Xanthous
by djewellz
Summary: AU, Yullen - Kanda hates being caught in the middle. Especially when it's between a terrorist organization, a crossdressing Allen Walker and crazy government agents. But it certainly keeps things interesting!
1. Welcome

**So yeah...this is my first attempt at writing a -Man story. I can't really say where the inspiration for this came from - it just kind of hit me all of a sudden, haha. And I just couldn't stop writing it once I started. It's more of an introduction to a real story than anything, that's why it's on the short side (at least for my stories). It's also an AU, and contains shounen-ai, so if you don't like that, I suggest you turn back now. And it's definitely Yullen - I definitely have to thank all the people who participated in Yullen Week because that was when I first started reading DGM fanfiction, and that's what got me interested - _coughcough_ADDICTED_coughcough _- in this pairing. **

**It's rated T for now. I don't know if it'll change at all. I also don't know if there will be any other pairings. And this first chapter deals with what I guess would have to be labeled crossdressing, but this is really the only time it's dealt with - plus it's not because I'm making any character a crossdresser. Ah, it'll just make more sense if you read it and find out for yourself, haha.  
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**Disclaimer: It's rather obvious I don't own anything. I never have and I never will.  
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* * *

"Oh, Yuu, this is going to be so good for you!!" the old man gushed from the front seat of the small car. "You haven't seen Daisya in years!" His eyes were glued to the scowling young man in the back seat of the car.

"Keep your damn eyes on the road, dumbass," the man in question ground out, arms crossed over his chest and glaring out the window. Why his adoptive father – _adoptive_, mind you, there was no way this freak was genetically related to him – wanted to go out to eat to celebrate his older adoptive brother's homecoming from university was beyond him. And he still didn't see why he had to go. The old fart had gushed something about family togetherness, but he hadn't been paying attention.

"We really_ haven't_ seen him in a couple years, Kanda," the other occupant of the car said truthfully. Noise Marie – the other adopted brother of Tiedoll's dysfunctional family unit – was around Kanda's age, and ever the practical pragmatist.

"I don't care," Kanda snapped back. "And why the fuck are we going to some stupid restaurant on the fucking other side of town?" He hadn't wanted to go out to eat. He didn't like going out in public to see a bunch of idiots gorging themselves on fattening food that would go straight to their thighs. Nor did he particularly care whether or not he saw Daisya; adoptive brothers or not, no one in Kanda's book of acquaintances had garnered that much respect. And besides…he was almost positive this restaurant didn't serve soba.

"Oh, come on, Yuu, this is one of my favorite restaurants!" Tiedoll crowed happily. "You're going to love it!"

"Che, I seriously doubt that," was the dark answer.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence – at least, it was uncomfortable for Kanda – they pulled into a parking lot that was about three-quarters full. They quickly found a parking spot and then got out of the car, making their way towards the entrance. Kanda rolled his eyes when he saw the looks of the place – it was obviously a sports bar, where the waitresses wore those tiny skirts that showed their asses and the shirts that made their implants almost pop a few seams. Somehow, he didn't think Tiedoll knew where he was.

The three of them made their way into the restaurant and were immediately attacked by a very energetic Daisya. "Yo, Pops!" he said, slapping the old man on the back a few times. "Nice to see ya, again! Marie too – and, holy flying fuck!! You got _Kanda _to come?!?"

"All my children have such bad language," Tiedoll said mournfully, pouting a bit. But his expression soon changed into one of confusion as he looked around. "Wait…where is this place? I don't remember it ever being this full of men…or" – he flushed a bit here –"inappropriately clad waitresses."

"Best place ya ever took us to," Daisya said with a wink before going up to the blonde hostess and securing them a table.

"Wait, I don't think this is the right restaurant!" Tiedoll said, looking around to see if he could procure some help. He walked up to a brunette woman in the black and hot pink uniform. "Um, excuse me, miss, but do you know what happened to Buddy's?"

The brunette – whose nametag read "Hi, I'm Amber and I Can't _Wait _to Take _Your_ Order!" – smiled at him indulgingly. "Oh, that place closed down a couple years ago!" she said happily. "Our manager bought the place and spruced it up a bit!"

"What a pity!" Tiedoll said, looking truly hurt. "They had the best hot wings I've ever tasted…"

"Oh, don't worry about that, sir!" Amber said, giggling and sticking her chest out even further – which shouldn't have been possible in Kanda's opinion, because it was already pretty far out there. He rolled his eyes; it was wasted on Tiedoll. He wouldn't take advantage of a girl if his life depended on it. "Our hot wings are top notch!"

"I'm sure they are," Daisya said, clearly impressed by Amber's assets. If he was drooling any more, they'd need to go get a bucket.

"Just take us to the fucking table!" he said crossly, glaring at Amber. Her bleached white smile faltered a bit, but she quickly grabbed a few menus and sets of silverware before leading them through the loud, testosterone-laced front room to one of the slightly quieter side rooms.

"Here you are!" Amber said cheerfully. "Your waitress will be out in a minute!"

"Oh, it's not you?" Daisya asked, sounding sincerely disappointed.

Amber giggled. "Sorry, but I only work in the front room!" she said happily before moving away with a sinuous walk that had Daisya's eyes glued to her ass until she was out of viewing distance.

"Could you be any hornier?" Kanda demanded, glaring across the table at the slightly older man.

"Could you be any nicer?" Daisya asked back, smirking. When Kanda didn't answer, the smirk deepened. "There ya go."

"Well, I suppose this place isn't…too…bad," Tiedoll allowed, looking around. The walls were made of paneled wood and the floor was basically cement, littered with peanut shells and cigarette butts. You could practically smell the alcohol in the air and the TV's fixed to the corners of the ceiling were playing nothing but sports.

"Che, if you're trying to pick up a slut," Kanda said scathingly, glaring down at the menu. He wasn't even going to open it – he sincerely doubted there was anything worth eating at this kind of an establishment. "Why the fuck would anyone wanna eat here?"

"To pick up a slut. And hey, the view ain't bad either," Daisya said bluntly, his eyes following a certain girl's obviously enhanced chest.

"Seriously, shut the fuck up," Kanda said angrily.

"Or what?" the older man said tauntingly.

"Or I'll set you up a nice date with Mugen when we get home!"

"God, you and your stupid sword," Daisya said, rolling his eyes. "That's all you ever talk about. Mugen this and Mugen that! Why don't you just marry it already?"

Kanda felt the veins pop out against his skin at that remark. "Care to repeat that, you fuck-up?!" he demanded, slamming a fist down on the table.

"Eh-hem," Marie said politely, interrupting their argument. They both turned to glare at him, silently asking what the hell he was interfering for. "I think our waitress is here."

Kanda and Daisya both turned to look at the…well, Kanda supposed it was a girl, if a very odd looking one. Her hair was relatively short, only barely grazing the top of her thin shoulders, but that wasn't the strangest thing about it – it was snow white. She had big gray eyes and pale skin with a rather flat figure compared to the other girls here. Not only that, but she had a strange scar over one of her eyes. And her uniform…it was long sleeved…all of the other girls were basically in extremely short, extremely tight tank tops. Not to mention the glove on her left hand…okay, so the waitress wasn't just odd looking, she was just plain _weird _looking. Kanda's suspicions were immediately aroused.

"Um, hello," she said, smiling brightly. Another thing to add to the list of suspicions – her voice wasn't really masculine, but it wasn't really feminine either. It was just kind of…there. "I'm Alanna, and I'll be your waitress tonight. So, what can I get you guys to drink?" She held up a little memo pad and pulled a pen out of a pocket.

"I'll just have water," Tiedoll said, smiling kindly at the girl.

"Water for me too," Marie went next.

"I want a beer," Daisya said, clearly thrown off by the androgynous girl standing before him. He preferred buxom types, but it was plain to Kanda that he was considering making an exception for this Alanna.

"And for you, sir?"

Kanda glared up at the waitress who had turned to him. To his surprise, the girl's smile didn't falter one bit. Was she stupid or something? "Tea," he grunted out. "Hot, no sugar."

"Um…I don't know that we serve hot tea here, sir-"

"Then just don't put ice in it, idiot," he said, interrupting her. He would've gotten madder, but this was a girl, after all. He did have a sense of morals – he wasn't going to make the girl cry. She nodded and wrote it down.

"I'll be back in a minute with your drinks!" she said.

Kanda waited until the girl was out of hearing distance before saying anything. "There's something odd about that girl," he said, more to himself than anyone else.

"Are you actually interested in a girl, Kanda?" Daisya asked incredulously.

"No, dipshit," he replied scornfully, glaring at the other. "But she's definitely not normal. Who dyes their hair white anyways?"

"It's not dyed," Marie interjected quietly. "Her eyebrows were white too."

"That doesn't mean anything," Daisya pointed out. "You can dye your eyebrows too, you know."

"You would know, fucking clown," Kanda said. Daisya liked to dye his hair random colors occasionally. He'd left for his last semester of college with green-as-grass hair. At the moment, it was his natural brown, but Kanda suspected that it wouldn't be long until it mysteriously changed to some neon atrocity.

"At least my hair doesn't make me look like a girl," Daisya said, smirking.

"I do not look like a girl," Kanda said dangerously, his dark eyes glinting murder.

"It would really be nice if you two decided to stop arguing," Tiedoll said, smiling at the two of them. "This is supposed to be a happy dinner."

"Besides, the waitress is back," Marie pointed out. Sure enough, Alanna was back with a small tray balanced on her hand. She easily moved around the table, setting their drinks before them. After that, she pulled out her little memo pad and pen.

"So, are you guys ready to order?" she asked cheerily.

"Well, that one girl said that the hot wings here are good, so I'll think I'll go with that," Tiedoll said brightly.

"Okay!" Alanna scrawled something down. "And you?" she asked Daisya, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"What's your favorite, Alanna?" he asked the girl, smirking.

"Oh, I like everything!" she said happily.

"You don't have a favorite?" he continued.

"Not really," she said, putting a finger to her mouth to think about it. "But the burgers are pretty good."

"I'll have that then," Daisya said.

"I'll have the spaghetti," Marie said.

_Che, what kind of restaurant is this? _Kanda thought to himself. _What, do they serve anything? _

"And you, sir?" Alanna's cheery voice had finally found its way to Kanda.

"I don't want anything," he said, pushing the menu away from him as if to make his point.

"…you don't want anything?" she asked. "But aren't you going to get hungry if you're around people eating?"

"I said I don't want anything," he repeated, more firmly this time. Wasn't it perfectly clear?

"Are you sure?" she asked again, sounding confused. "I'm sure I could find something you-"

"I said I don't want anything!" he said, his voice raising now. He glared up at her.

"Um, okay," Alanna said, flipping her memo book shut.

"Ah, don't mind him," Tiedoll said, waving a hand. "He's always in a bad mood. He's actually being incredibly nice to you!"

To Kanda's surprise, the girl laughed at that. "Did he forget to take his happy pill this morning?" she asked teasingly.

"I am not on happy pills," he spat at her. "Go do your fucking job already!"

"I wish they made happy pills for him," Tiedoll informed her. "Then he might actually agree to let me paint him for once! I don't see why it's such a big deal – Daisya and Marie let me paint them. And he really has nice features, don't you-"

"Stop making it sound like you're some perverted old bastard, moron," Kanda interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Alanna just smiled and made her way to the kitchens, leaving the four of them alone. For about twenty minutes, they sat there, not really talking about anything important. For the most part, Kanda kept himself out of the conversation. Daisya mainly talked about his university endeavors, most of which included soccer, women, beer or a combination of the three. Marie didn't really do anything but listen, while Tiedoll was almost in tears when Daisya got to the part about the graduation ceremony – even though the stupid old man had even been there to witness it.

When the old man really _did _start crying, Kanda decided it was definitely time to head for the bathroom. While he'd been surveying the room earlier in boredom, he'd discovered that you had to go by the kitchens to get there. He stood up, not bothering to give an explanation and headed for the doorway. He didn't really have to go to the bathroom, but anything was better than listening to the stupid geezer cry about things like graduation ceremonies.

He was so intent on trying to escape – damn, the old man was _loud _when he cried! – that he didn't realize he'd run into someone until he felt warm food hit him. He stopped, looking down at himself, and then moved his attention to whoever had run into him. Luckily, they were in a relatively private hallway, so no one had seen what had happened.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he demanded, looking down at the body sprawled on the floor. He was actually pretty lucky – the person on the floor, a waitress by the looks of it, had come out much messier than him. He kicked aside the tray that was covering the person's face, and then blinked in slight surprise. It was…it was Alanna, her white hair now red because of the tomato sauce of the spaghetti, a look of mixed shock and mortification clearly written on her face. "Geez, not only are you freakin' annoying, you're also clumsy as shit?" His morals had clearly gone out the proverbial window – he had been planning to be nice, but that was before this idiot threw meatballs at him.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she said, flushing. She stood up hastily and moved forward, starting to brush food off his now probably-ruined shirt.

"Don't touch me," he snapped. Not even thinking about it, he put a hand against her chest and pushed back. He didn't aim for her chest – he just pushed away at the part his hand was closest too. But as soon as his hand hit her, both of them took a step back. His face only looked mildly surprised, but in Kanda expressionism that meant he was completely floored. She looked terrified. "You…" he said. "I knew there was something suspicious about you!" He was getting angry now – he didn't like to be deceived, even if it was about something as stupid as this. "Che, Alanna my ass."

"Please, don't say-"

"What the hell are you playing at?!"

"I only do it because I-"

"I don't give a shit!" he said. "What do you expect me to do? You're a fucking guy!"

* * *

**Once again...this came completely out of nowhere, haha. I mean, I was just listening to some Slipknot and doing laundry and -pop!- this idea came into my head. So I really have no idea. Oh, and if you're wondering what the title means, it has to do with something later on. **

**I tried to keep them as IC as possible, but I mean, since you don't really see Daisya that much it's basically all speculation. And this is my first time writing them, so it'll get better as I get more used to it. And again, this is really just an introduction. It'll all make more sense after next chapter, if people still want to read this, haha. I don't know how good it is.**

**Wanna be kind and leave a review?  
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	2. I Will Always Be Your Fool

**So, chapter two is FINALLY done!! I had most of this written when I posted the first chapter, but then it took me forever to finish that last section. And I'm still not all the way satisfied with it, so I may go back and change it again. But this is how it's staying for now, haha. **

**And OMG, 23 reviews?!? For one chapter?!? In one week?!? Thank you guys soooo much!! I seriously didn't know how good it was, but since everyone seemed to like it okay, I'm definitely gonna continue writing this. Not that I wasn't going to if no one reviewed...lol. Also, do you guys like review replies? I wasn't sure, so I only sent out a few, but if no one minds, then I'll definitely try to respond!! **

**Also, I went ahead and changed the genre to Romance/Drama instead of Romance/Humor. I really wish you could choose three genres, because I think it really fits in all of them...last chapter was definitely more Humor, but this one's kind of Drama-ish. Eh. It doesn't mean this is going to be a total angst-fest story with lots of drama. There's just a bit of Allen-drama. Seriously, the poor kid's life is always so screwed up, haha. I feel bad for him. He needs a hug. **

**But I'll shut up now. So, here's chapter two!!**

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"I can explain!" the recently-exposed boy said, waving his hands in front of him rapidly. "But please, don't tell anyone!" His huge gray eyes were pleading.

Kanda wasn't sure whether he should be sickened, appalled or feel nothing at all. He just stared at this boy, unsure of what to say. Should he tell anyone? It wasn't like he really cared anyway. It was kind of weird – make that _a lot _weird – that any boy would be willing to pose as a waitress at this kind of restaurant, but hey, it took all kinds to run this sick and twisted world. "Che, whatever," he said.

The boy's eyes widened. "You aren't going to…never mind," he said. He looked down at the dirty floor and flushed a little bit. "I should probably get this cleaned up. And I'll have to get your order again." He sighed. "I probably ruined your shirt, too. I'm sorry."

"Like that's going to make it any better," Kanda said, looking down at his shirt in disdain. It really wasn't _that _bad. But he wasn't going to say that to the kid. "Why the hell are you dressed up like a girl anyways?"

"I had to," the kid said with a sigh. "My…master-"

"_Master?_" Kanda repeated. "What kind of fucked-up stuff are you into, brat?"

"Wha-?" A confused expression melted into one of outrage and indignation. "Not that kind of master, idiot! Master as in he teaches me!" He let out a little huff of air, his lower lip falling into a pout. "Anyways, he owns this place, but the damn bastard's always out running around with the waitresses on their days off, so I have to basically run this place."

"That doesn't explain why you're dressed up – badly – as a waitress," Kanda pointed out dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You don't even wear the same uniform as the rest of them."

"Well, of course not!" the kid said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't have…eh, well you get the picture." He flushed; had Kanda not been Kanda he would've called it adorable. But being himself, he just rolled his eyes. "I don't get paid to run this place, and I have to make money somehow to pay off the stupid womanizer's debts. At least here I didn't have to go through an interview to get a job." He shuddered. "Interviews are awkward."

"Che," Kanda said, smirking, "Stupid Moyashi."

"Eh?" the kid said, frowning a bit. "'Moyashi'? What's that?"

"A word, idiot," Kanda ground out.

"Obviously," the boy muttered. "I'm not stupid, you know."

"Che, yeah, says the kid that just dumped a plate of food all over me," Kanda retorted.

"What does that have to do with being stupid?!" the kid demanded, clearly angry now. "And I'm not a kid either!" He eyed Kanda, as if he was just seeing him for the first time. "You know what, you're really rude!"

"And you're really annoying!" Kanda shot back. "Go do your fucking job already, stupid Moyashi!"

"My name is Allen, not Moyashi!" the boy called out angrily at Kanda's retreating back. He didn't care what the brat's name was. He didn't even care about why the idiot was dressed up as a girl in a restaurant where he was clearly out of his element. It was weird, and while part of him wanted to know more, the bigger part of him wanted nothing to do with such a freak.

He stepped inside the restroom, which was surprisingly empty. Walking over to a mirror, he surveyed the damage done to his shirt. Since it was a dark color, the stains just looked like big wet splotches. He used a paper towel to wipe off the pieces of food that were clinging to him, and then grimaced. His shirt might look okay, but it smelled horrible. He'd have to throw it away when he got back to his apartment.

With a huff of irritation, he headed back out to the table just in time to see Alanna – no, _Allen_, he reminded himself mentally – placing a basket full of rolls on the table, a guilty expression on his face. His shoulder accidentally knocked into the boy's as he slipped back into his seat – accidentally being the subjective word, of course. The waiter opened his mouth to say something, but after seeing Kanda's glare, he closed his mouth again and went away.

"Poor thing," Tiedoll said, smiling faintly. "Did you hear that, Kanda? She accidentally got run into on the way here, so we'll have to wait a little longer for the food." He didn't look at all upset, though Daisya was beginning to look a bit impatient.

_Did he not tell them that he ran into _me_? _he asked himself. No one was calling him names or berating him for being rude, so he guessed the answer was a big, fat no. He tuned everyone else out as he thought about what the brat had said earlier. Apparently, his _Master_ – though why the kid couldn't just say teacher like any normal person would was beyond Kanda's thought capabilities – owned this place. But he was never around. And most of the time he spent not-running-the-restaurant was spent with any waitresses that were off-duty.

So the brat was forced to work here, apparently to pay off the owner's debts. And why couldn't he get a regular job? Like one that didn't force him to be a crossdressing waitress? It didn't make sense to Kanda – someone who wouldn't be found crossdressing in a fucking million years. He gave up trying to understand the kid's motives rather quickly. After all, why should you try to understand what you didn't give a flying fuck about?

* * *

Allen sighed after he finished explaining to the cook – a rather eccentric man named Jerry, whose bright pink hair wasn't quite hidden by his chef's hat – that he needed the order for table seventy-six again. Leaning against a wall in the hallway that ran by the kitchen, he looked down at his uniform with disdain. It was going to take forever to get these stains out! And he didn't even own a washing machine…that just meant more money going down the drain.

"Allen?" a quiet, surprised voice asked from his right. He looked up to see his coworker/best friend Lenalee Lee. She was frowning at him and his dirty uniform. She was the only one who worked here who knew of his secret, but she'd only found out because he'd found out her secret. She was a little older than him, and in her first year of college, but she still lived with her brother – her very overprotective brother who still thought she was a five year-old who wore pink dresses and played with Barbie's. Naturally, he didn't know she worked here. He would have a conniption fit – or perhaps an aneurysm. With Komui Lee – whom Allen had only had to meet once – the two were basically the same.

"Are you alright?" she continued, sounding slightly worried now. Did he mention that she also had a mother-hen complex? She was the restaurant mommy, er, manager. "What happened to you?"

He flushed a bit, and ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment. "I, uh, wasn't looking where I was going…and ran into a customer," he said bashfully.

"Allen!" Lenalee said, sighing. "You need to watch where you're going. That's the second time this month, and it's only the fifteenth!"

"I know," he muttered. "But it gets even better." He smiled at her weakly.

A horrified look crept onto her face. "No," she whispered.

"Yep," he said, "He found out."

"What are you going to do?" she pressed.

"Well…" he trailed off because he wasn't sure _what _he was going to do. "He just said I was stupid…and that he didn't really care what I did. I don't think he'll tell anyone, though. I hope not anyways."

"That's a relief," she said, smiling at him. Then, thinking of something else, she brightened up immediately, her violet eyes sparkling. "Oh! By the way, guess who wants to meet you?"

"Um…"

"Lavi!" she gushed happily. Allen's mouth instantly formed an "o" of recognition. Lavi was Lenalee's latest boyfriend. She'd had a few relationships before, but nothing too serious. But apparently Lavi was different. He was _so _smart, and _so _funny, and _so _completely and totally charming – or at least, that was what Lenalee told him every chance she got. It wasn't like he would know, or anything. Allen supposed he seemed like a nice enough guy – especially if Komui was willing to let him date his precious Lenalee.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes!" the excited girl proclaimed. "He said he wants to go on a double date together!"

"Does he know I'm a guy?" Allen deadpanned.

"Of course," she said. "But he just thinks you're the son of the guy who owns this place. That's not too far from the truth, you know." That was true; Cross was technically his legal guardian, however horrible he was at, well, parenting.

He nodded. But thinking of another problem with her plan, he spoke up. "Um, you mentioned a double date…I'm not seeing anyone right now…" he trailed off, flushing a bit. To be truthful, he'd never really seen _anyone _before. He'd never really been interested in people that way. Cross's endeavors had kind of turned him off to the idea of sex in general. He'd hadn't even thought about what his orientation was, to be honest.

"Psh, that's fine," she said, waving a hand in dismissal. "We'll find someone for you, Allen!"

"Sure," he murmured noncommittally.

"Order up!"

Allen and Lenalee both turned to see the order for table seventy-six placed on the ready-to-be-served platform. "Well, that's my cue to get back to work," Allen said, offering his friend a smile.

"Alright," she said. "I'll call you about the details later!" He nodded and she cheerfully bounded away, probably to go make sure everyone was doing their jobs correctly. That was, after all, what she did best.

Walking over to the counter, Allen carefully put all the plates onto a new tray. Holding it tightly in his hands, he walked at a steady pace to the table. Luckily, there was no one in his way this time. He quickly delivered the plates easily enough. But he couldn't help but notice that this family was just so odd! The older man seemed nice enough, if a bit overly sentimental. The tall man with only a topknot of hair seemed okay too, just quiet.

The other two were the strange ones, though. First of all, the shorter one with the brown hair was looking at him funny. It was as if…he had to fight not to blush when he figured it out – this guy thought he was a girl, and must have thought he was attractive. Oh, dear. How incredibly awkward. And then there was Mr. I-Have-A-Giant-Stick-Up-My-Ass. Or at least, that was what Allen was calling him since he didn't know his real name. He was glaring again, not really at anyone in particular. It just seemed as if glaring seemed to be his natural expression. It was a pity; if he didn't scowl all the time, Allen would wager that he didn't look bad at all.

Wait…what?

Why the hell would he be thinking like that? He didn't even know this jerk – not to mention they'd run into him and called him names – and here he was thinking the guy was attractive? He must be coming down with something. He had heard that fevers made people delusional – perhaps he was just getting sick. Yeah, that was it.

Just a fever. Nothing more.

* * *

Kanda was a junior in college this year. He wasn't at a particularly prestigious university, but he wasn't at a community college either. He wasn't incredibly smart like Marie, but he wasn't incredibly stupid like Daisya either, who had only gotten into a school in the first place based upon his soccer abilities. As a college student, he didn't have a lot of money. He had a small apartment in the section of town that was neither high-class nor low-class. Tiedoll could've easily gotten him a better place – despite how much of a fruitcake he was, the guy was an accomplished artist – but he didn't want to have to depend on the guy.

So he had a job. He was a security guard at a local museum. He generally worked the all day on weekends and sometimes weeknights. It wasn't the best job in the world, nor was it really that entertaining. But it paid well enough to keep him in an apartment. Plus he was good at his job – all the little brats that got a little too touchy-feely with the exhibits were quick to find themselves the victim of a fierce glare and a scalding reprimand. Even his coworkers seemed a bit frightened of him.

However, one of the downfalls of having a small apartment was that there was no washing machine. And it wasn't in the nice part of town, so there wasn't a built-in Laundromat downstairs. He unfortunately had to go across the street to a cheap place to wash all his clothes. And tonight was laundry night.

He'd shooed off the rest of his "family" as soon as they'd dropped him off. He didn't want to talk to them any more than was necessary. Who would? He'd just tromped up to his apartment, opened the door and grabbed a basket of dirty laundry and some change before heading back downstairs and across the street. And of course, he'd changed into a fresh shirt.

As soon as he entered the Laundromat, the sound of rumbling washers and dryers met his ears. Luckily, there weren't many people here. After all, who did their laundry at ten thirty on a Wednesday night? It wasn't exactly rush hour. Walking all the way to the back, he claimed an empty machine and dumped his clothes into the drum. Not really paying attention to what he was doing, he found the detergent and fabric softener and threw the right amounts in before slamming the door shut and sticking a few coins in the slot.

The machine having started, he moved to sit on a bench against the wall. There was a woman about five feet away, but she was paying no attention to him. He leaned his head against the wall and let his eyes slip shut. It had been a rather trying day. Tch, and wasn't that putting it lightly? His arms moved up to cross over his chest. In a few minutes, he was able to tune everything out completely, entering a semi-meditative state that just let him completely relax. It was so peaceful.

That is, until a rather annoying kerplunk made him open his eyes in vexation. There, lying just past the entryway into the building was a person hidden under masses of clothing. All Kanda could see was a pair of feet. He rolled his eyes. Honestly, was everyone in this world as clumsy as a fat woman on stilts? First that retarded waiter, now this guy? Jesus Christ. A few people made moves to help the person out, but he stayed where he was, even going so far as to pointedly look the other direction.

"Are you okay?" someone asked.

"A-Ah, I'm f-fine!" a very embarrassed voice responded. Kanda's heart had to have skipped a beat, despite doctors saying that such an occurrence was impossible. He _knew _that voice, and he wasn't overly fond of its owner.

Someone protested that the person's face was starting to swell from where they'd hit the ground. "Really, i-it's nothing!" the invalid said. A scuffling sound was heard, and then people began to walk away, taking the person's word that they were fine. Out of the corner of his eyes, he looked to see if his suspicions were correct.

Damn. They were.

Now dressed in a pair of loose gray pants and a navy blue hoodie – with the hood pulled up, no less – that Allen kid was dumping his clothes in an empty washing machine. Kanda turned his head a little further to get a better view. It took the brat a few minutes to come up with the change to wash his clothes. While he was fishing around in his pockets, Kanda noticed that the idiot still had the glove on his left hand. What was up with that anyway? Freak.

Now finished, Allen took his white plastic basket in his arms and turned around, looking to find a seat. Kanda quickly averted his eyes, but he knew the brat would notice him – even he would admit that he stuck out a bit. You didn't see too many long-haired Japanese guys sitting in Laundromats every day, their arms crossed over their chests and glaring at the world. He could practically feel the boy's silver gaze settle onto him.

Sure enough, said brat walked over to him. "Is it really you?" the kid asked incredulously.

"Che." Kanda turned to glare up at him. "No, you fuck-up, I'm a ghost." He rolled his eyes.

The kid scowled at him. "You know, you don't have to be such an ass all the time," he huffed, taking an empty place on the bench next to Kanda – luckily for him though, he opted to sit at least half a foot away from the dark-haired man. "I'm sure people would like you more that way."

"Does it look like I give a rat's ass about whether or not people like me?" Kanda demanded.

"Not really," Allen commented. He paused for a moment, and then continued in a timid voice. "Um…thank you…for not telling anyone back at the restaurant…" He blushed a bit, his hands fisted in his pants.

"Che, don't thank me," Kanda said scornfully. "I just don't give a shit."

"Obviously," the kid muttered. Kanda supposed that he wasn't supposed to have heard that, but he wasn't deaf by any means. He chose not to say anything back. Hopefully by ignoring the kid, Allen would get the message and leave him alone. For a few short seconds of bliss, there was silence. However, Kanda was just about to close his eyes again when the silence was broken. "What's your name?'

The question was rather random to Kanda. His first initial reaction was to just tell the kid to shove off. But then again…what bad could it do? Maybe if he gave a few answers to the kid's questions, he'd go away. "Kanda," he said finally, in a very clipped tone.

"Kan…da?" the kid repeated, obviously not used to the foreign name. "Eh…that's not an English name."

"Because I'm not English, dumbass," Kanda snapped.

"I can see that," Allen replied, rolling his eyes. "Do you live around here?"

"No, I live in New York City and commute every day. Yes, I live here, you idiot!"

"Geez, there's no need to get so angry!" Allen protested. "It was just a question!"

"Why do you care anyways? It's not that important."

"You know who I am," the kid said flatly. "It's only fair I know the name of the guy who ruined my work uniform."

That did it. Kanda whipped his head around faster than you could blink and glared down at the kid sitting beside him. "Listen, you little punk," he said viciously. "_You _ran into _me, _not the other way around. Don't go blaming your clumsiness on me!"

"I wouldn't have even fallen if you'd just watched where you were going!"

"You want to repeat that?" Kanda demanded, leaning down dangerously close to Allen's face.

"No, thanks," the kid replied, smiling innocently. "It'd just be a waste of breath."

It took all of Kanda's willpower to not slash the kid up then and there. But he figured that were he to actually kill the little brat, there were too many witnesses in the room – he'd have to kill them all too, and he really didn't feel like being bothered. So instead, he opted to get up and go check on his laundry. He stomped over to the machine, looking inside at the whirling fabrics.

How could one person get on his nerves so much? Sure, he didn't like most people. His family was one thing – you were allowed to dislike them as much as you wanted because you knew they'd still save your ass when you were in trouble, and vice versa. Tiedoll was an annoying old sap, Marie was persistently smoking his little peace pipe and Daisya was hornier than a Triceratops with four horns. They were dysfunctional, weird and downright annoying – but he was stuck with them and just had to suck it up and deal with it.

Then there were the other people he was forced to endure in his life. Like his coworkers, for instance. His boss – an idiot by the name of Komui Lee – was without a doubt the most infuriating person Kanda knew (though Allen was fast rising to the top). The old man who ran the help desk – who only called himself Bookman – was tolerable, but he didn't really speak a whole lot. And then there was his stupid coworker.

Lavi was the antithesis of Kanda. He was loud, obnoxious, flirtatious and hyper twenty-four seven. And the worst part was that he considered himself Kanda's best friend – seriously. The Asian man wasn't really sure what he'd done to warrant the unwanted friendship, but he'd gotten it. He'd tried to make the other go away and leave him the fuck alone, but it never seemed to work. Most people he knew seemed to act like that, come to think of it.

"Um, Kanda?"

Kanda glared down at Allen, who had ventured his way up to stand beside him. "What?" he asked icily.

"Um, this fell out of your jacket when you got up and stomped over here," Allen explained, holding out his gloved hand; on his palm was Kanda's stupid student ID card. Why were those even necessary? No one cared who you were at college.

"Che," was Kanda's only response. He reached out and took the card from the outstretched hand, making the contact as minimal as possible.

"I didn't know you were in college," Allen said quietly.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Kanda snapped before he could help himself. Cursing internally for actually talking to the brat and thus continuing a conversation, he immediately launched into a different topic, taking the focus away from him. "What the fuck are you wearing a glove for, anyway?"

"Eh?" Allen asked, clearly surprised. He looked down at his hand. "Oh. Well, that…um, it's just…well…"

"Before I turn eighty and kick the fucking bucket, please."

"…it's nothing."

"Che. Whatever." It wasn't like he cared anyway.

Just then, the clothes stopped spinning in the tub. Kanda waited until the light that signaled the end of the washing process turned off before opening the door and gathering his clothes in his arms. He quickly moved over to a dryer and dumped everything in, going back a couple of times to get everything. He whirled a few dials and stuck in a few coins before slamming the lid shut. He turned around and was about to go and sit back down on the bench when he noticed something rather odd.

Allen was staring at him. Furthermore, his gaze was…envious? As soon as the white-haired kid noticed Kanda's gaze on him, he flushed and looked away, now apparently mortified. He moved away to his own washing machine, looking down at the clothes rather miserably. Kanda wasn't sure what to make of that. What was there to be envious of in a Laundromat? Getting to the new box of detergent first, or the best-smelling fabric softener? Securing a machine that actually ran and not one that left your clothes covered in suds even though it said it was done?

He didn't think that was it. But that didn't stop the fact that Allen looked incredibly sad as he watched the spin cycle go round.

* * *

Allen sighed as he let himself back into the tiny apartment that he was just barely able to afford. It was cold in here, but he barely had enough money to pay the heating bill as it was, let alone if he upped the temperature. He wearily moved over to the area behind the small sofa, where there were wire lines suspended from the walls. He began to take his wet clothes out from the basket that he'd thrown them in after they were cleaned and hang them over the wires where they could dry.

It sucked, but he wasn't even able to afford using the dryer. He'd barely had enough money to use the washing machine. He already worked three different jobs, only one of whose paychecks he used to pay for his own things. The other two went towards paying off his master's debts. The stupid womanizing bastard! He should have been in college right now, like everyone else who'd graduated with him last year. He had missed getting the scholarships he needed by a hair. But Cross wouldn't pay the tuition, and he couldn't afford to.

After getting all the clothes hung up, he set the basket down near the wall and headed into the bedroom, flopping down on his single bed face first. He was so tired. Today had been a tough day. Tomorrow he had to work at the café from five in the morning to noon. Then he could come home and have some time to run a few errands – and go to yet another doctor's appointment – before heading off to the restaurant at five. It wasn't an easy life, but it he made it work.

Flipping over onto his back, he pulled off the glove on his wretched hand. He hated that Kanda had asked him about it. He hated that he hadn't been able to summon a response. He hated that he wasn't able to tell people the truth. The truth? That he had a deformed arm that was completely disgusting? He stared at it, finding it completely repulsive. This arm had caused him nothing but trouble. And there was no way to fix it.

He sighed. Tomorrow was going to suck.

* * *

**So, there's the end of that chapter. I think the first part is better than the second, but seriously, that's about as angsty as it's ever going to get. And I don't really consider that really angsty at all. And the Lavi x Lenalee is really just a mentioned thing - there won't be any citrusy scenes dealing with them. I think that's all there is to say. **

**Review?? It only takes a few clicks of some keys and a button!!  
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	3. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Hello again!!**

**So I'm back, this time with chapter three. This chapter was fun to write, haha. Plus, you get a little more background information on what's going on with the lovely Allen. Also, I decided to keep Lenalee's hair long in this fic because I personally think she looks horrible with short hair. But that's just me. I also have to say that I'm not sure when the next update will be, considering that I have to start studying for a REALLY big test that's two weeks away. Seriously, if I do good on this test, I will be on cloud nine. So hopefully I won't fail, haha. That would be bad.**

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!! They're what keeps me writing!!

* * *

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Allen fidgeted nervously as he sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office. He knew he shouldn't be nervous – after all, he'd been having these appointments for years now – but he couldn't help but get somewhat anxious, in an excited, jittery kind of way, whenever he visited the clinic. It was a little after one in the afternoon; his appointment was at one, but everyone knew doctor's were never on time.

"Allen Walker?" a voice suddenly called.

Looking up, Allen saw a kind-looking nurse standing towards the edge of the reception area, holding a clipboard in one of her hands. He practically jumped out of his seat as he rushed over to where the brunette stood. She led him into a sanitary room and had him sit down at the side of a white plastic examining table.

"So, you're just here for an annual check-up?" she asked, looking down at the charts.

"Yes," he said, smiling nervously at her.

"Could you remove your shirt please?" the nurse asked, turning around.

"Sure," he said easily, moving to do so. At first, he'd been embarrassed to have to show his arm to the staff every time he came in for a check-up. But he'd long since gotten comfortable with it. Most of the people here knew him anyways, so it wasn't as awkward. He laid his now neatly folded shirt on the empty chair beside his own.

"Alright then, please put your arm out on the examination table," the woman instructed, leaving her clipboard on the counter across the room. She moved over swiftly and checked his pulse, as well as his blood pressure – all normal things that doctors were above doing. After she was finished, she recorded a few numbers and then moved to the door. "The doctor will be in in just a moment!" she said cheerfully before she left.

He leaned back in his chair, drawing his arm in towards his body unconsciously. He looked down at it, to see if anything had changed since the last time he'd been in here. It was still completely red and bumpy, almost like the surface of tree bark. It didn't hurt – it never had. The doctors had given him a complex explanation when Cross had taken him to the doctor right after he'd been adopted (the only time the man had ever done so), but he'd been so young at the time that he hadn't understand half of what the doctors had said.

The ridges and notches went all the way up to his shoulder, where it abruptly ended. There was no explanation for that, either. The nails on that hand were thick and black, although they suspected that that was more of a genetic mutation than a problem associated with his arm's color and texture. The cross mark on the back of the hand was attributed to being a birthmark, despite how unordinary it was.

He looked up at the sudden knock on the door. A few seconds later, a young man with lively light brown hair came in, his lab coat undone and a glass of soda in his hand. Allen smiled; this man wasn't the most professional doctor, but he was nice and knew what he was doing. "How you doing, Allen?" he asked, shutting the door behind him and smiling at the boy.

"Ah, pretty good, Dr. Reever," Allen responded. The guy's real name was Reever Wenham, but the man had said to call him by his first name, considering how often they saw each other. To Allen, he was almost like an older brother type figure that he only saw once every few months. He had a lot of respect for the guy.

"So, any trouble with the arm?" the young doctor continued, sitting down across the examination table from Allen. He motioned to see the arm in question, to which Allen hastily put his arm back on the table.

"Not really," Allen said quietly.

"Not really as in kind of?" Reever asked, looking up briefly before going back to examining the arm, poking and prodding at it with his gloved fingers.

"No…not really as in nothing," Allen clarified. A few moments later and the examination was over. He gulped nervously. Well, here it was – the moment of truth. This was a very important doctor's visit for Allen; this was the day he was going to learn whether or not they could fix his arm, make it look normal. He looked up hopefully at the doctor.

Reever sighed. "I know what you're going to ask," he said. Allen's spirits immediately fell at the resigned tone in the other's voice. Reever noticed this and frowned. "Come on now, don't get depressed! You don't even know what I'm going to say!"

"I can guess," Allen said quietly.

"Eh," the man said noncommittally. "I've got good news and bad news…what do you want first?"

"The good, I guess."

"Well, we know what's wrong with your arm, and we're going to be able to fix it," Reever said. Allen's eyebrows rose significantly, a hopeful expression on his eager face. "However…the procedure it would require to remove these lesions costs a lot of money. And you only have minimum insurance, right?" Allen nodded glumly; Cross was too cheap to pay for anything else. "Well then, your coverage probably won't pay for more than an anesthetic, if it pays for that at all."

Allen sighed, but smiled anyway. "I guess I should've expected that," he said. "But at least it's curable."

"Yep," Reever said, leaning back in his chair. "It's just an unusually violent case of xanthoma disseminatum." He lengthened his explanation after Allen shot him a blank look. "Basically, it's just a bunch of skin lesions caused by an abnormality in the way a person's lipid intake interacts with their metabolism. They're not harmful – just annoying. Yours is somewhat odd because most cases of disseminatum occur in adults.

"But like I said, they're not going to hurt you. It's mainly a cosmetic issue." He paused for a minute or two. "You know those tests we did on you last year?"

"Yeah," Allen said, listening intently. He was determined to understand his condition now.

"Well, we figured since your arm is covered in these lesions, you might have some other kind of disorder relating to lipid metabolism," the doctor explained. "After all, your diet is rather…abnormal." Allen flushed at that; sure, he ate a lot. Okay, make that a ton. That didn't mean it was abnormal! Okay, so maybe that was a lie too. But he couldn't help it! He was just always hungry! "But we couldn't find anything. All we can come up with is that something's going on with your metabolism that isn't harmful, but that doesn't work properly either. Thus, these xanthoma. It should've already resolved itself by now, but apparently your body likes having a weird arm."

He didn't mean it in a bad way, and Allen knew that, so he didn't get angry. But he did have a few questions. "So, I can get them removed, but it'll cost a lot of money?" he asked for clarification. Reever nodded. "How much money?"

The doctor sighed. "Allen, we're talking close to five or six thousand dollars here," he said, trying to sound kind though he knew what he was saying wasn't at all nice. "You have a lot of lesions. And then there's the possibility that they'll just grow back. Since we don't know what's causing them, we have no way of knowing how to prevent them."

Allen smiled faintly. "Well, I guess I'll just have to work hard to get the money then."

* * *

"Why the fuck are we watching this piece of shit?" Kanda demanded, staring at the TV screen. "This has got to be the worst movie I've ever seen." Not that there were a whole lot of movies that he _did_ like. But this one was so corny and so horrible – he felt like throwing up every time the damsel in distress and her stupid lover met.

"Aw, don't be like that, Yuu!" Tiedoll said happily, munching on his popcorn. "This is my favorite movie!"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kanda glared at the screen, not really watching what was happening. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten dragged into the "Tiedoll Family Movie Night" but he sure as hell wasn't enjoying it. For one thing, it meant he had to be around his family. For another, Tiedoll always chose horrible movies. He looked over to see if Daisya and Marie were faring any better than he was.

Marie wasn't really paying attention to the movie; his vision had always been bad, but he could still see to a degree. Still…evidently this movie wasn't making the cut for him. But he was much too nice to ever say anything about it. Daisya, on the other hand, was staring at the screen in slight confusion, as if something was absolutely flabbergasting.

They were only about thirty minutes into the movie, and Kanda had been contemplating ways to somehow get out of this situation since the opening credits. But since the others had shown up at _his _apartment and announced they were watching a movie tonight, it would mean he'd have to destroy his own personal property. And he didn't want to have to go out and buy anything; he absolutely loathed shopping. Not to mention the fact that he'd have to go talk with the landlord if he damaged the actual building. And he _hated _that stupid man.

"How the hell is this your favorite movie?" Kanda demanded. "You say that for every movie you watch."

"But this time I really mean it!" Tiedoll protested. "It's such a wonderful, beautiful love story!"

"It's a piece of shit," Kanda muttered.

"What's the name of it again?" Daisya asked, looking around for the DVD case. Upon finding it, he stared at the front cover. "I swear I've never heard of this movie before."

Kanda reached over and grabbed the case from out of his hands. He looked down at the cover, where the two lovers were displayed – the woman with her stupid, smug little smile and the man with his ratty-ass little mustache. Whoever had ever come up with the movie The Princess Bride deserved to be brutally murdered and left to die by the roadside. Kanda was all too willing to offer his services.

"Oh, do you want to borrow the movie, Yuu?" Tiedoll asked. Kanda looked up at his adoptive father quickly, shooting the old man a glare that could've sent many large animals running.

"Why the fuck would I want to borrow this lame-ass pitiful excuse for a movie?" he demanded angrily. He quickly chucked the DVD case back across the room into the old man's face. "And why the hell did you have to come over to _my _place to watch this anyways?"

Tiedoll blinked. "If we'd just invited you over to our house, you wouldn't have come." He stated his answer as if it was the simplest concept in the world to understand. And it was true, Kanda grudgingly admitted. "And then we couldn't have a family movie night!"

"And that's bad _how_?" Kanda asked, rolling his eyes. Luckily, the phone rang just then – he had an excuse to leave the room and instead go gripe at whoever was unlucky enough to choose to call him on this night. He stood up and walked into the kitchen, flipping on the light switch as he went.

He heard Tiedoll sigh in what was probably sympathy. "That's why poor Yuu doesn't have a girlfriend," he heard the stupid old fart mutter. "He's always in such a bad mood."

Kanda gritted his teeth together to keep himself from screaming. Reaching down, he jerked the phone up off the receiver and held it up to his hear. "What?" he asked flatly. Most people who knew him would realize that he wasn't really going out of his way to be rude – he just didn't like talking to people or using the phone, and as such, people realized that that was the only greeting they were ever going to be given.

"Eh, Yuu-chan!" an annoying and horribly familiar voice responded disdainfully. "That's no way to greet your best friend!"

Kanda glared down at the poor table the phone rested on. Great. Wasn't this just perfect? He'd escaped a living room full of idiots only to have to talk to another. "Don't call me that, you stupid rabbit," Kanda snarled. For some reason, Lavi thought it was cute to add one of the honorific suffixes used in Japan to Kanda's name – his _first _name, a name which no one was allowed to call him. Well, Tiedoll did, but that was only because no matter how many times Kanda demanded that he stop, the old man just ignored him. Or forgot. One of the two. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Lavi used "-chan" which was primarily used by girls towards other girls. He wasn't sure whether or not Lavi knew what he was implying by using those words, but he wasn't one to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

"Oh, you're so mean to me!" Lavi protested.

"Then why do you still hang around me like some retarded dog?" Kanda demanded.

"Because I'm your best friend!"

"Che." He rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want anyway?"

"Oh, are you busy or something?" Lavi sounded surprised, the stupid bastard. He had probably assumed that Kanda had been sitting at home, doing classwork or some other mundane thing. Which, in all honestly, he probably _would've _been doing had his family not shown up at the door and practically invaded his home.

"Yes."

"Really?!" And the idiot had the audacity to sound shocked?! This was one of the many reasons that he hated Lavi – the guy could read Kanda extraordinarily well. He hated it, but he wasn't about to change just because someone read him like an open book. If they wanted to look into his life, that was their problem. As long as they didn't try to "help" him out, he didn't give a shit. "What are you doing?!"

"That is none of your business," Kanda informed him snappily. "You have ten seconds to tell me why you're calling or I'm hanging up."

"Eh, wait!" Lavi protested. "It really is important!"

"You've got five seconds left."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay – just listen to me!" Lavi said, rushing his words so fast that they all blurred together. "You know how we were supposed to work the graveyard shift Friday night?" Kanda didn't respond, but he was listening now – work was important, even if he had to listen to Lavi in order to get the latest updates. "Well, we've been moved to working Sunday afternoon instead."

"Why?"

"Routine cleaning," Lavi responded. "They're shutting down the entire building."

"Fine." Kanda moved to hang up, but as he pulled the phone away from his ear, he could hear Lavi's screaming voice get louder and louder. Growling in annoyance, he put the phone back at the side of his face. "What the fuck is it now?!"

"Yuu-chan, you didn't listen to me!"

"Che, and you're surprised?" Kanda retorted. "And don't call me that! How many fucking times do I have to tell you that?!"

"At least once more, Miss Swan," Lavi said in what was actually a fair imitation of Orlando Bloom. He giggled and then launched into another conversation before Kanda could respond. "But, you see, I was wondering if, since you aren't going to be doing anything Friday night, you wanted to come out with me!"

"…why the fuck would I want to do that?" Kanda deadpanned.

"Because I want you to meet Lenalee!"

"Who's that?" Kanda asked. He vaguely remembered the name from somewhere, but he just couldn't figure out where he'd heard it before…perhaps it was the name of a famous actress? No…that wasn't it. Then where…it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Komui's kid sister?" he guessed. "No. No way in hell am I meeting another member of that crazy-ass family. Forget it."

"Aw, but Yuu-chan, she's nothing like Komui!" Lavi protested. "I promise! She's not weird, or obsessive, or maniacal, and she definitely doesn't belong in a mental ward!" He sighed. "She's been dying to meet you ever since I told her about the time you destroyed Tiedoll's old car!"

"You told her about that?!" Kanda asked dangerously. He'd told Lavi to never, never, _never_ tell anyone about that particular incident. The only reason the stupid rabbit had known in the first place was because Daisya had told him – those two were too similar for their own good, sometimes. Well, other than the fact that Daisya was an idiot and Lavi had an IQ of around 200.

"Yep!" Lavi said happily. "She thinks it's funny!"

"And now you want me to meet her?" Was the guy fucking insane?!

"Oh, c'mon, Yuu-chan, it won't be so bad!" Lavi persisted. "Plus she's gonna bring her best friend, so you won't be all alone!"

"Her best friend?"

"Yeah, some person named Aaron!"

"Are you trying to set me up with a guy?" Kanda asked, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. He could hear the volume of the TV in the living room drop significantly. He looked around the doorway to see all three members of his idiotic family staring at him, listening intently. He glared at them murderously, and they all whipped around rapidly, the noise of the movie rising to the point of being annoying.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Lavi said quickly. "Lenalee said the guy's as naïve as a kid. Practically harmless. So will you go?"

"…no."

"Oh, c'mon!"

"Why the hell would I go on some stupid date with you, your girlfriend, and your girlfriend's pathetic, loser-ass friend?"

"Because you love me."

"…I'm hanging up now."

"Wait, Yuu-!"

True to his word, Kanda slammed the receiver down. Fucking rabbit.

* * *

"Lenalee, I really don't know about this," Allen said hesitantly as the two of them grabbed their mid-shift snacks and headed off to the breakroom to chat for a few minutes. They sat down at a small table near a droning TV that was babbling on and on about an accident downtown. Allen immediately began to eat while Lenalee delicately unwrapped her snack and tear it up into dainty pieces. "I don't think it's such a good idea."

The idea of going out with people he didn't know was somewhat terrifying for someone like Allen – someone who'd been mocked because of his appearance his entire life. He wouldn't turn into a blubbering idiot, but on the other hand, he always got lots of odd looks and questions. Not to mention that going to restaurants curtailed an enormous bill, since he always consumed insane amounts of food. To be honest, it was more of a hassle for him than anything else.

"Why not?" Lenalee asked. "It's just Lavi, and he's harmless, once you get used to him."

"Get…used to him?" he asked, puzzled.

"Well…" she trailed off, putting a finger to her bottom lip as if in deep thought. "He tends to be a bit…extreme."

"…extreme?"

"Energetic," she clarified. "And definitely mischievous. He likes to help people, regardless of whether or not they want his help, too. And he teases people a lot."

"Teases?" he asked nervously, his left hand subconsciously moving to clench the skirt of uniform – a clean one, mind you.

"Oh, don't worry, he's not that low!" she said quickly, noticing the movement. She smiled suddenly, leaning across the table towards him. "And I forgot to ask you about that! How'd your doctor's appointment go?" Naturally, she knew about his arm as well. She'd offered to help him pay for the procedure, but he wouldn't let her – she had to support herself, after all, considering how much money her brother wasted on experiments. He paid for her college tuition, and she had free housing. But that didn't give her much more than a roof and four walls. Of course, he still suspected that she was saving fractional amounts of her paycheck to give to him anyways. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Eh, well," he said, looking down at the table where his snack had once been. It had long since disappeared, of course. It hadn't even lasted a whole minute.

"Nothing's wrong, right?" she asked anxiously.

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that!" he said quickly. She drew back a little, tilting her head in question. "It's just…well, they know what's wrong with my arm, and they _can _fix it. It's just going to cost a lot more money than I'd hoped."

"How much?"

"About five thousand dollars," he said, sighing. She winced. "And I don't have more than minimal insurance." He cursed Cross in his head once again. "Plus they told me that since they don't know what's causing these things to form," – quite eloquent, wasn't it? – "there's a good chance that they'll just grow back."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," he said, propping his head up on his chin. "It'd take a long time to save up the money, even with three jobs. It might just be better to forget about it."

"You can't do that!" she protested hotly. He blinked at her in slight surprise; he hadn't expected his words to get _that _fervent of a response. "You've worked so hard to get to this point, and put up with tons of testing and doctor's appointments for years! You are not quitting now!"

"Then what am I going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going to find a way to help pay for the procedure!" she proclaimed, smacking her left fist onto her open right palm. "Between me, Lavi and my brother, I'm sure we can find a way to make this easier!" She sounded quite determined.

He laughed nervously. "Really, Lenalee, it's not a big deal," he said, trying to calm the girl down. "You don't have to do anything. I'm sure that in a year or two…or maybe three…perhaps even four or five…but I'm sure I can raise the money myself!" He tried to smile convincingly. "There's no need for you to bother, really."

"Allen," his friend said softly. He looked up at her, and saw her giving him _that look _– it wasn't one that he could readily describe, or one that he really understood, to be honest. It was one that told him not to give her any more bullshit. It was the look she gave him when she didn't want to tell him outright that she knew he was bluffing, that he was trying to keep people from interfering. He couldn't help it; he'd been practically alone ever since Cross had taken him in. He'd had to take care of himself. He wasn't used to people wanting to take care of him. But Lenalee wasn't giving up, and he didn't feel like arguing right now.

He sighed. She smiled in victory.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?"

He blinked at the abrupt change of topic. "Um…nothing really," he said slowly. "I have to go grocery shopping sometime, and I need to clean up Master's apartment." And God only knew how long that was going to take. Honestly, the man was the biggest slob Allen had ever seen! Did he not know what a trash can was for? There was a hint in the name, for Pete's sake! TRASH can – could it be any more obvious?

"Do you have to work Friday night?" she pressed.

"Only until six," he responded warily, guessing where this was heading.

"That's great!" Lenalee said happily, leaning forward to beam at him. "So do you want to go out with me and Lavi? We even found someone else to go, so you won't be a third wheel or anything!"

"Really?" Allen asked, slightly surprised. Lenalee didn't have many girl friends that she'd take out in public – look at the restaurant she worked at, after all. Komui had spies in many different places (a very frightening thought indeed).

"Mm-hmm!" she said, nodding her head. "Lavi's going to get his best friend to go."

"…is this friend a guy?" he asked, blinking. They couldn't possibly be trying to set him up…could they? No, they wouldn't. They wouldn't do that to him; after all, Lavi didn't even know him, and Lenalee knew how he didn't like being thrust into situations that he wasn't prepared for. His first day as a waitress? Let's just say that the mayor has never come back to the place again.

"Yeah, but it won't be a date or anything," she said quickly. "His name is Yuu. Or something like that."

"You?" Allen asked, thinking of the English word "you". "Like with an 'o' and a 'u'?"

"No," she said, laughing a bit. "Yuu with two u's, as in the name."

"I've never heard of that name."

"That's because he's foreign, silly."

For the next few minutes, they debated what restaurant they were going to go to and when and where to meet. It always took a while to figure out plans, considering that Allen didn't have a car and had to take either the subway or the bus from his apartment to all of his jobs. Lenalee had a car, but she lived all the way on the other side of town in the girl's dorms at the university. Apparently, Lavi lived somewhere near Allen, but none of the streets directly linked their homes – stupid one-way streets.

Eventually, they had it figured out that Allen would head home after his job ended at six on Friday. Lenalee would pick up Lavi up from his last class of the day (he went to the same university as Lenalee) and then head over to Allen's apartment, which was only a few blocks away. Then, they would go on to the restaurant – Lavi's friend was going to meet them there. Allen just hoped that this friend wasn't opposed to the plan. It would be terribly awkward to go out to eat with a couple and a sourpuss who refused to talk to you, after all.

* * *

Kanda leaned against the wall of the restaurant, his arms crossed over his chest and a glare etched onto his features. No one was coming near him, or worse, talking to him – a good thing, as he would probably have punched anyone who dared approach him. Why he'd let the stupid rabbit talk him into going to dinner with him and his girlfriend was beyond him. Perhaps it had been an attempt to shut the idiot up. Or maybe it was the fact that Lavi was paying, and they were going to a Japanese restaurant that he'd always wanted to try. And it just might've been that he had absolutely nothing better to do, and he was avoiding his psychotic family, who – as Murphy's Law dictated – would show up that night for another movie night from hell.

He didn't want to be there. At least, not with Lavi and his latest girlfriend. Lavi had had a lot of relationships in the past, and most of them were about as serious as couples in fourth grade. They were more like…flings. But apparently, Lenalee was completely different. She was a keeper. Just thinking about the idea of romance made him want to gag. Especially considering that Lavi was the one doing the wooing.

And then there was the fact that all he had for company was a retarded guy named Aaron. What kind of girl had a guy best friend anyways? Couldn't she have picked up a normal _girl _friend? Though to be honest, guys were easier to deal with than most girls he knew – the twittering, girly bitches who gossiped and were always caking on their make-up and thought they were God's gift to men. And trust him, they weren't. More like the spawn of Chuckie and Freddy Krueger.

His cell phone, safely ensconced in his pocket, vibrated against his thigh. Barely making a move, he reached down and took the device out of his pocket, looking down at the screen. There was a text message from Lavi: "We're here!" Beside the word was a cutesy smiley face. Che. And he'd thought that only girls had used that kind of crap. But then again, it _was _Lavi. He put the phone back in his pocket and waited a few more moments. Sure enough, about a minute later, the door swung open and Lavi – dressed in a lime green shirt that clashed horribly with his hair, which was down for once – and the girl he assumed was Lenalee.

He supposed she was pretty enough, though he'd never really considered people based on their physical attractiveness. She had long black hair and wide violet eyes. She was dressed in what was probably suitable date wear. Kanda wouldn't know – he'd never gone on a date with a girl before. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't gay. It was just that all the girls he knew were either annoying as hell or people he didn't see in a sexual light. He'd never met a girl that he'd immediately wanted to hook up with, as Lavi had.

"Yuu-chan!" Lavi said happily once he'd spotted Kanda. Kanda prepared himself for the onslaught. The red-head bounded over to him, reaching out as if to hug him. But the dark-haired man just held up a hand and caught the offending face, keeping him at arm's length.

"Don't touch me," he said coldly.

"Aw, don't be so cold!" Lavi protested, stepping back. Lenalee was looking between the two of them with slight concern on her face. Seeing that expression, Lavi immediately jumped into introductions. "Don't worry about him, he treats everyone this way. Lenalee, this is my best friend, Yuu Kanda!"

"Don't call me by my first name, you fucking rabbit," Kanda snapped. His eyes flicked to Lenalee. "Just call me Kanda."

"O-Okay," she said, smiling nervously.

Noticing that there were only two people present, Kanda looked around to see if he was just missing something. "Where's the other guy?" he asked roughly. His eyes snapped back to Lavi. "If this was some kind of joke and it's just the three of us, I'm leaving now." He stood up straight.

Lavi quickly put a hand out. "Hold your horses, Yuu-chan!" he said. "He's coming in a minute!"

"Yes, Allen agreed to park the car for us since it's so cold outside," Lenalee piped up, smiling. "Isn't that nice of him?"

"He's a fucking saint," Kanda muttered under his breath. What had happened to the guy being named Aaron? Oh well, Lavi had once again gotten something mixed up with another; despite the fact that he was practically Einstein reincarnated, he was lacking in the common sense department. Or if he wasn't, he just liked appearing like a complete ditz.

A gust of blustery wind flew in through the doors as a middle-aged man pushed his way into the restaurant's lobby. The woman with him shivered and exclaimed how cold it was outside. She was wearing a sleeveless, slinky black dress. Fucking idiot – if it was so cold outside, why the fuck didn't you wear a freaking coat, instead of the glitzy sweater that came with the dress? He didn't understand people like that.

Suddenly, Lavi and Lenalee turned around. "Ah, Allen!" Lenalee said, sounding surprised. "What happened to your hand?" Kanda couldn't see who they were talking to since the both of them had turned around to talk to the newcomer.

"Ah, it's nothing," a familiar voice said sheepishly. He frowned. Did God seriously hate him? Why the fuck did this keep happening?! "I, uh, accidentally slammed it in the car door." He had to be sure though. He had to make sure it was that fucked-up waitress.

He stepped forward, forcing Lenalee and Lavi to part. Sure enough, standing there cradling his right hand against his chest was Allen. The same Allen who'd tripped in the laundromat. The same Allen who crossdressed as a waitress at a risqué restaurant. And the same Allen who'd dropped food all over him and ruined his shirt.

Wasn't life fucking perfect?

* * *

**I love writing Kanda. I have an excuse to be really mean and cynical and use lots of lovely language. Not that I don't already in real life, haha. But that's a different story. SO, like I said, the next update probably won't be for another couple of weeks, unfortunately. Sorry about that. I'll try my hardest to make the wait as short as possible, but I can't make any guarantees. **

**Also, sorry if that seems like a cliffie. Guess it kinda is...haha. What can I say? Cliffies are fun to write.**

**Review? It'll definitely get the next chapter here faster!!  
**


	4. Safeguard to Paradise

**Whew!! This chapter is finally done!! I suppose most of you are thinking something along the lines of "Psh, took her long enough, what with that damn cliffhanger she wrote at the end of the last chapter!" Tehe, maybe I just like being evil. BUT I got that big test out of the way, so I'm free for the moment. Of course, I make no promises about the rest of the semester. I'm sure a lovely little exam is going to pop out of the snow like daisies somewhere along the way. **

**But anyways, this chapter was fun to write. Plus, I learned something really important!! Writing in 10-point font in Word is strangely amusing. You should try it sometime. I would highly recommend it. Ah, and I just remembered this weekend is Valentine's Day - or Singles Awareness Day, as I prefer. Honestly, it's great if you've got a boyfriend/girlfriend...but if you don't...do you really need the reminder? Maybe I'll go buy myself a box of chocolates. **

**Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews/favorites/alerts!! They mean so much to me!!  
**

* * *

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kanda demanded, staring down at the stunned face of one Allen Walker. "What the hell are you doing here?" Since there were no mirrors around and he hadn't yet achieved the ability to look at himself without one, he couldn't be positive, but he assumed there was a pretty nasty glare on his face at the moment. He didn't like surprises, and this…well, it was one hell of a surprise.

"I could ask the same of you," Allen said wryly. He'd evidently gotten over his shock and was now staring up at Kanda questioningly. The kid turned to look at Lenalee. "I thought you said the guy's name was Yuu."

A noise that could only be described as a growl came out of Kanda's throat. "Don't you ever fucking say that name again, brat," he threatened.

The kid just blinked. "Then what am I supposed to call you?"

"How about you just don't talk to me?" Kanda suggested snidely. He looked up at Lavi, who was staring at the two of them with slightly narrowed eyes, as if trying to assess the situation. Which he probably was, Kanda knowing the idiot like he did.

"His name's Kanda!" Lavi supplied happily, jumping into the conversation. Allen smiled and muttered thanks while Kanda glared the red-head down. Lavi made a pouting face at him. "Aw, Yuu-chan, don't be so mean! He's got to have something to call you by! He can't just go around saying 'hey, you!'…oh, wait…then he'd be saying your real name!" He burst into a fit of laughter at this apparently hilarious play on words. Kanda glared at him, while Lenalee gave him a meager smile for the attempt.

"I'll just call you Kanda then," Allen said quietly to Kanda. Lavi was still laughing while Lenalee was asking if he was alright and trying get to him to calm down.

Kanda looked over at the brat and snorted. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Wow!" Lavi said, breathing harshly, as if he he'd just ran a marathon. "That was funny!" Everyone else just stared at him blankly. He shrugged. "Eh, I thought it was good." He looked around for the host's platform. "Let's go get a table already – I'm starving!"

"Make that a table of three," Kanda huffed, taking a step towards the door. "I'm leaving."

"Yuu-chan!" Lavi whined, suddenly grabbing hold of Kanda's arm and holding on tight. "You can't leave! We haven't even eaten anything yet!"

"Let go of me, you stupid rabbit!" Kanda snapped, trying to push the red-head off his arm. It was a rather unsuccessful attempt, seeing as how Lavi was stuck to him like glue. He had never wanted to punch the guy so much in his life, but he didn't feel like making a scene – well, an even bigger one than Lavi had already caused, with his loud, annoying voice – or breaking something.

"Rabbit?" he heard Allen ask. The kid sounded confused.

"Apparently, that's Kanda's pet name for Lavi," Lenalee quickly explained to him.

Kanda stopped dead in his tracks, glaring at the girl. Lavi looked up, clearly surprised that his attack wasn't being fought off anymore, staring at Kanda, and then at Lenalee. "Pet name?" Kanda repeated. "_Pet name?! _Who would honestly ever come up with a fucking pet name for this stupid piece of shit?!" He didn't care that some of the guests – as well as a few members of the staff – were giving him dirty looks. He did NOT have a pet name for Lavi. That implied intimacy, and intimacy was a word that didn't exist in Kanda's vocabulary. The closest he'd ever come to it was with Mugen. Not in a physical sense, of course – it was more of an emotional connection.

"Ah, I didn't really mean it that way," Lenalee began, flushing slightly.

"You better not have," Kanda said menacingly. Taking advantage of Lavi's momentary lapse in concentration, he quickly shoved the red-head off, letting him stumble a bit while he tactfully stepped out of the way. "Like I said before, I'm leaving." He turned around and started to go back through the glass doors.

"Coward."

He stopped in his tracks. Turning his head ever so slowly, he looked back over his shoulder. Lavi and Lenalee were both staring at Allen with shocked looks on their faces; Lavi was even slowly backing away from the kid. Allen, meanwhile, had a rather content look on his face for someone who'd just said something like _that, _to _Kanda, _of all people. "What did you say?" he asked dangerously.

Silver eyes flashed as they looked at him. "You heard me," the brat said, smiling serenely.

Turning around so fast that his ponytail almost hit him in the face, Kanda stomped over to the offending midget and grabbing him by the front of his dark blue button-up shirt. "Listen here, you punk," he snapped. "I am not a coward. So take that back and shove it up your fucking-"

"Eh-hem."

Kanda broke off his rant as the host interrupted them. He had a disapproving look on his face, and was clenching his fist in annoyance. "What the hell do you want?" he demanded, still gripping Allen's shirt.

"I'm sorry, sir, but unless you're going to request a table and then eat, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the building," the man said, looking distastefully at Allen – who was attempting to pry Kanda's hand off his shirt before it lost buttons but having little to no success. "We don't allow loitering in the lobby."

"Okay then!" Lavi said. "We'd like a table for four – preferably a booth!"

Kanda turned to face the red-head. "What the hell, idiot?" he demanded savagely. "I'm not eating with you people!"

"Why?" Lenalee asked innocently, tilting her head to one side. "Is it because you're a coward, like Allen said?"

Kanda nearly had a seizure. This…this girl…she was definitely related to Komui Lee alright. She looked so innocent and kind – but it was all a façade. He could see that now. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted – and now she was backing Allen up because she knew Kanda wouldn't do anything to her because she was a girl. Dammit! Could everyone here read him that easily? With a snarl, he dropped the stupid white-haired kid to the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't want to be here, but he couldn't take all these blows to his pride. Besides, he was a little bit hungry. But only the slightest little bit.

The host sighed and snapped at a waitress that was just coming up. He quickly gave her some instructions, and she nodded, picking up four menus and sets of silverware. She smiled at them rather warily and told them to follow her. Kanda huffed and followed after her, pushing past the other three. He didn't care if they followed him or not – he just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

The waitress smiled back at him as she led him to a different room in the restaurant. "You and your friends all look so happy together!" she said. He snorted and looked back at the other three. Lavi and Lenalee had each looped an arm through Allen's, and were smiling and laughing with him. He rolled his eyes as he faced front again. "Are the red-head and the girl together?" She didn't wait for an answer. "They're such a good couple! They come here for lunch occasionally. And the littlest one!" She giggled. "He's so adorable! Is he with you?" She stopped at a booth and turned around, smiling winningly.

Kanda stopped in shock. For a moment, he just stared at her, and then the expression turned into a downright glare. "Am I _with _him?" he repeated, seething. Her smile faded a bit. "Do I look gay to you?"

Lavi and Lenalee, who had just arrived at the table – Allen in tow – stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the waitress, completely flabbergasted. Their arms dropped to their sides, camaraderie forgotten. For a moment, there was silence. Then, several things happened all at once. Lavi burst out laughing, Lenalee grabbed hold of the waitress's arm and pulled her out of the way of danger, and Allen flushed scarlet.

"Ah-hah-ha!" Lavi crowed, leaning over and slapping the table a few times in mirth. "As if!" Tears were coming out of his eyes – well, the one Kanda could see - now, streaming down his face. "Yuu-chan's about as sexual as a sponge!" He collapsed into one of the booths just then, laying his head down on his arms as he continued to laugh.

Kanda couldn't resist slamming the red-head's face into the table to get him to shut up. After the ensuing – and quite satisfactory – yelp of pain, he sat himself down in the booth across from said red-head and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked up at the waitress, who was by now holding the menus to her chest and staring at the both of them with wide eyes, and glared. "I am not gay," he spat out. "And even if I was, it certainly wouldn't be for the fucking Moyashi here."

Allen – embarrassment clearly forgotten in his anger – looked up and scowled at Kanda. At least, he gave his best attempt at scowling, which really looked more like a pout. "Don't call me that!" he said, clenching his fists.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want," Kanda said, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe it would be better if you just left," Lenalee muttered to the waitress. The blonde woman looked at the darker-haired one and nodded, handing her the menus and silverware. The Chinese girl sighed and motioned for Lavi to scoot over as she distributed the menus. After doing so, she sat down and looked over at Allen, who was still scowling at Kanda. "Allen, are you going to sit down?"

"I don't want to sit next to him," Allen said, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's an ass."

"Allen!" Lenalee said, in a stern manner. Kanda rolled his eyes – what was she, his mother?

"Fine," Allen said, sighing. He approached the seat Kanda was in warily, and slowly, inched down until he was sitting on the very edge of the cushion. He kept shooting Kanda glances out of the corners of his eyes every few seconds, as if waiting for an attack.

"Che, idiot," Kanda smirked. "I don't bite."

"Most of the time," Lavi clarified, opening his menu.

Normally, Kanda would've corrected such a statement, but this time, he felt no need. He didn't open the menu. He already knew what he wanted. So instead, he looked around the room. There weren't many people in this back section of the restaurant – that was probably why the host wanted them seated here. The walls were painted dark blue, and had pictures of Japanese scenery hanging on the walls. There were a few plants spaced around the room and he could hear running water from a fountain somewhere. He supposed it wasn't too bad.

"So how do you two know each other?" Lavi asked. Kanda turned his icy blue gaze back to Lavi. The red-head smiled at him.

"Well, um…" Allen began.

"We ran into each other at the Laundromat," Kanda supplied, rolling his eyes. Honestly, couldn't the brat even answer a simple question? Was he that stupid? "Dumbass here fell on his face coming through the door."

"I did not fall!" Allen said indignantly. He flushed a little when he saw that everyone's attention was on him. "I...uh…I just tripped, that's all. The floor wasn't level."

Kanda snorted. "Whatever, idiot," he said. "You tripped."

"And you came to the rescue, Yuu-chan?" Lavi asked, smiling.

"Yeah, right," Allen said. "He wouldn't save his own mother!"

"I don't have a mother," Kanda replied back.

"Everyone has a mother, idiot," Allen shot back.

"She's dead."

There was silence for a moment. "Well, you still had one at some point."

"Shut up, Moyashi," Kanda growled.

"Moyashi?" Lavi asked, blinking. He looked at Kanda, and then at Allen, and then broke out into a big grin. "Ahhhhhh, I totally see now! The resemblance is _so_ there, Yuu-chan!"

"Resemblance?" Allen asked as Kanda rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know what 'moyashi' means?" Lavi asked. Allen shook his head. "It really fits you, you know! Yuu-chan's good at coming up with names like that! I think it's his way of being creative since otherwise he's as boring as my left toe, but this one just takes the cake! It's a stroke of genius! I wish I'd-"

"What does it mean, Lavi?" Lenalee interrupted him kindly, smiling at her boyfriend.

Lavi smiled at her. "Bean sprout!"

Allen slowly turned his head to look at Kanda, a muscle in his cheek twitching. "Bean…sprout?" he repeated through a forced smile. "You're calling me a bean sprout?"

"It fits you," Kanda said in affirmation. He could tell that Allen wanted to say something back, but at that moment, the new waitress came over to their table, a memo pad in her hand. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes with huge dark circles under them. She was shaking like a leaf. He looked up at her through his bangs, and she gulped nervously.

"H-h-h-ello-o," she said. "I-I'm M-m-miranda, a-and I'll b-be your waitress t-today." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before continuing. "C-can I g-get you something t-to drink?"

"I just want water, please," Lenalee said, smiling up at the woman. The brunette nodded and laughed nervously, scribbling something down on her memo pad.

"I want a Coke!" Lavi said cheerfully.

"Water is fine for me," Allen said, smiling up at the waitress rather radiantly.

"Hot tea, no sugar," Kanda said tersely.

Miranda nodded and slapped her little memo book shut. "I'll b-b back in a m-m-m-minute!" she said, attempting to be brave. Kanda snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Idiot."

"That's not very nice," Allen commented.

"I never said I was nice," Kanda grunted back.

"He's got you there, Moyashi-chan!" Lavi said, grinning.

"Moyashi-chan?!" Allen repeated, sounding scandalized. "Not you too!"

"What?" Lavi asked innocently. "It's such a cute nickname!"

"I don't appreciate it," Allen said, pouting a bit.

"Che, grow up, brat," Kanda said, shifting around in the seat a little.

"Grow up?" Allen repeated. "I'm not a kid, you know!"

"What are you, thirteen?" Kanda asked, glaring across the seat at the white-haired boy. "Go back to junior high already!"

"I'm nineteen, for your information!" Allen snapped. "Just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm a kid!"

"Could've fooled me."

"At least I'm not a jerk!"

"No, you're a stupid, childish brat instead. And that's just _so _much better."

"Really, you're nineteen?" Lavi asked then. Allen nodded. "Wooooow! You don't look nineteen at all! What school do you go to? You're in university, right?"

"Ah, no…I'm not," Allen said, flushing a bit in embarrassment.

"Che, what are you, stupid, too?" Kanda asked, smirking.

"Allen's not stupid!" Lenalee said, frowning at Kanda. His gaze shifted to her. "He's actually really smart! He's always reading big books that I can't even begin to understand. He used to have to help me with my calculus homework every night."

"Then why aren't you in college?" Lavi asked.

"I…can't afford it," Allen muttered. "And my…guardian refuses to pay tuition."

"Eh?" Lavi asked, blinking. "What about scholarships?"

"I missed out on the Presidential Award in the last round cut," Allen said, sighing. "I'm saving up though, so I'll make my way there eventually!" He smiled rather hopefully.

"That's so inspirational, Allen!" Lenalee said, smiling at him.

"Ah, you think so?"

"Dumbass," Kanda muttered under his breath. Allen turned around to stick his tongue out at him, but the waitress arrived before Kanda could say throw another insult out there. Miranda handed everyone's drinks out – just barely missing throwing water all over Lenalee – before taking out her memo pad again for their orders.

"Are y-you g-guys ready t-to order?" Miranda asked, smiling nervously. She looked first to Lenalee.

"Can I just have an order of vegetable tempura?" the dark-haired girl asked. Miranda nodded and scrawled something down before moving on to Lavi.

"I want the California Rolls!" Lavi proclaimed happily.

Kanda was next. "Soba," was all he said. Miranda blinked at him, but wrote it down anyways. And then they got to Allen. The kid was staring intently at the menu, reading over all the items listed there. After a few minutes of silence, Kanda was beginning to get impatient. "Oi, just go ahead and order already," he grunted.

"Um…" Allen picked up the menu and turned it around to face Miranda. He pointed to a section of the menu. "Can I have all of these?" he asked. Miranda's eyes bulged.

"Y-you want _all _of those?" she said incredulously.

"Yes, please!" the kid said brightly.

"O-okay," Miranda said, leaning forward to see what all the names of items were. After she was finished, she snapped her book shut and stood up straight. "It'll b-be about twenty m-m-minutes!"

As she left, Kanda turned to glare at Lavi. "California Rolls?" he spat scathingly. Lavi shot him a questioning look. "You come to a Japanese restaurant and order America's pathetic version of sushi? If you wanted that shit, you could've just gone to a fucking grocery store."

"Aw, but Yuu-chan, real Japanese sushi tastes nasty!" Lavi protested. "Besides, I didn't order nearly as much as Allen!" He turned to the smaller male. "That's incredible, Moyashi-chan! Are you sure you're gonna be able to eat it all?"

"Of course," Allen said, blinking. "Why would I order it if I couldn't eat it all?"

"Pig," Kanda snorted.

"I'm not a pig, Kanda!" Allen said, scowling over at the Japanese man. "Honestly, can you say something for once that's not insulting?!"

"Only if you stop acting like a fucking kid," Kanda retorted.

"I'm not acting like a kid!" Allen said hotly.

"Will the two of you cut it out?" Lenalee snapped suddenly. Kanda looked over at the Chinese girl, not having expected such a response from her. She was frowning at them. "You're both acting like children!" Kanda just hmph-ed; Allen at least had the decency to flush in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Lenalee," he said quietly.

She sighed. "Let's just talk about something else," she said.

"Okay!" Lavi said brightly. He turned to Allen. "So how do you and Lenalee know each other?"

"Oh, well, she works at the place my…guardian owns," Allen said, sticking with the story Lenalee had told her boyfriend. "And sometimes I come down and talk to the waitresses, so we just kind of met one day." Kanda looked up, narrowing his eyes. That wasn't at all the truth; he supposed Lenalee was a waitess at the stupid restaurant, but Allen was too. He opened his mouth to say something when something hard suddenly kicked him under the table. He looked over to see Lenalee shaking her head marginally at him. Did she not want him to say anything? He raised an eyebrow in question, but let his mouth close.

"That's cool," Lavi said. "Of course me and Yuu-chan work at the most awesome place in town."

"Che, if you're some kind of history dweeb," Kanda snorted.

"Where do you work?" Allen asked.

"The Natural History Museum downtown," Lavi supplied. "We're security guards!"

Allen looked over to Kanda and smirked. "Fits him well, I guess," he said. Kanda looked over at him and shot him a glare. The kid just smiled before turning back to Lavi, completely disregarding the death glare directed at him. "I work at a coffee shop on Second Street."

"Really? Which one?" Lavi pressed excitedly.

"The Starbucks," Allen clarified.

"That's so cool! I love coffee!" Lavi exclaimed. "Maybe I'll stop in and see you sometime!"

"O-okay," Allen said. "I generally only work that job Thursday through Sunday though."

Kanda tuned out the rest of the conversation as he processed that piece of information. He knew that the kid already worked as a waitress at the restaurant. And he also apparently worked as a barista part-time. He had said that he was saving up to go to college…but Kanda distinctly remembered him saying that he had to work off his master's debts too. But it wasn't too easy to manage several jobs at once. Luckily, Kanda's family had always been wealthy enough that he'd never had to work as a teenager. Tiedoll would just give him money whenever he needed it.

He looked over at Allen while the other was talking, not really listening to what the kid had to say, but just studying him. He was on the thin side, and his eyes were ringed with the beginnings of dark shadows. His hair was a bit on the shaggy side, in need of a trim. The sclera of his silver eyes was slightly red, probably from lack of sleep. But that wasn't what stood out the most about the kid to Kanda – no, it was the fact that even though he was smiling, Allen looked incredibly sad. He wondered why Lenalee and Lavi couldn't see it.

The rest of the dinner passed rather uneventfully. Kanda still bickered with Allen, and Lavi still egged Kanda on. They ate their food – and Allen really did eat it all, much to Lavi's astonishment – and then waited while Miranda took care of the bill with Lavi's credit card. All throughout the dinner, Kanda had watched the white-haired boy – discreetly of course. He'd discovered that the kid kept fidgeting with his left hand, which was still gloved, and always put a smile on his face when he was talking to someone – unless that person was Kanda of course. Then it was more of a scowl.

As Miranda brought Lavi's card back and wished them a good evening, the red-head turned to Allen and Kanda. "Well, me and Lenalee were gonna go see a movie," he said. "You guys wanna come?"

"Seriously?" Kanda asked, glowering at his "best friend". "I had to sit through an entire dinner with you. You really think I want to spend any more time with you? Fat chance."

"Eh, hope springs eternal," Lavi said, shrugging. He turned to Allen. "What about you, Moyashi-chan?" Allen had asked him several times throughout dinner for the red-head to not call him that, but Lavi had ignored him completely. It looked as if Allen was past caring now.

"Oh, no, that's okay," he said. "I've got to get home anyways."

"What could you possibly be doing?" Kanda asked, rolling his eyes. "It's not like you go to school and have homework to do."

"I…it's just…I've just got some figuring to do," Allen clarified. "Bills, you know." Lenalee gave him a pitying look, one which Allen ignored and Kanda took note of. He was sure that Allen was hiding something, and he was intent to find out what it was.

"Ah, okay," Lavi said. "But wait…how are you gonna get home?"

Allen blinked. "I suppose I'll just walk," he said. "It's only a few miles away."

Now it was Lavi's turn to blink in confusion. "It's snowing outside," he pointed out. "You'll freeze out there!"

"It's fine," Allen insisted. "You and Lenalee go see a movie."

"Are you sure, Allen?" Lenalee asked worriedly. "We really don't mind dropping you off."

"Yeah!" Lavi piped up.

"But if you drop me off, you'll have to wait for the nine o'clock showings," Allen reminded them. "I don't want to have to make you guys wait at the theater for an hour before the movie starts." He smiled. "I'll be fine, honestly."

"WAIT!" Lavi said suddenly, smiling broadly. "I've got an idea!" He turned to Kanda. "Yuu-chan can take you home!" Kanda froze, staring at the other in his own form of shock. What…the FUCK?! Was Lavi serious?! "You guys have to live pretty close by, otherwise you'd use a different Laundromat!" Before Kanda could protest, the red-head looked at him sternly. "And don't say no, because I know you don't have anything else to do tonight."

Recovering from his shock, Kanda just rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered.

"That's really not necessary," Allen said. "Kanda doesn't have to take me home."

"Would you get out of the fucking booth already, moron?" Kanda demanded of Allen. "You're blocking my way."

Allen scowled at Kanda before standing up; Lavi and Lenalee did the same. "Seriously, I'll just walk," he continued. "I feel bad enough with letting you pay for dinner, Lavi."

"Eh, don't worry about it," the red-head said dismissively, waving it off with a charming smile. He wrapped an arm around Lenalee's waist, drawing her closer to him. "A friend of Lenalee is a friend of mine." He leaned down a bit. "So I totally expect you to give me discounts on my strawberry frappuccinos."

"I-I'll try," Allen said. They started walking towards the door as a group. When they got to the parking lot, Lenalee and Lavi turned to head towards Lavi's little bright red car after some directions from Allen. Kanda started walking towards his own car – which was black and completely unassuming – and had gotten about twenty feet down the sidewalk when he realized Allen wasn't with him. Grumbling in vexation, he turned around only to see Allen walking towards the other sidewalk along the main road.

"Oi, Moyashi!" Kanda called out.

Allen stopped and looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"Where are you going?" Kanda asked. "My car is over here."

"You don't have to take me home, Kanda," Allen said, smiling faintly. "I don't mind walking."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Would you quit being a fucking martyr?" he demanded. "Just get in the damn car!" Spinning on his heel, he didn't even turn around to see if Allen was following him. He just stalked over to his car, yanked open the driver's door and sat down, putting his key in the ignition almost immediately. After fiddling with the dials on the heating system for a moment, he looked up – and sure enough, Allen was standing outside the passenger door.

The kid opened it hesitantly and sat down gingerly, as if he was afraid that Kanda was going to suddenly slam on the gas and kidnap him. Che, as if. The last thing Kanda needed was an annoying brat with him. Once Allen had shut the door, he immediately backed out of the space and sped out of the parking lot. Allen cursed lightly and hurriedly put on his seatbelt.

"Goodness gracious, Kanda, you don't have to go so fast!" Allen proclaimed.

"Whatever," was his only response. "Where do you live anyway?"

"Belleview Street," Allen muttered, staring out the window. Kanda turned right and started driving down the street (even though he had to go much slower because of traffic – fucking morons, didn't they know that the traffic rules were more like guidelines than actual rules?). In the silence that ensued, he couldn't help but notice that Allen kept fidgeting with his left hand. After the fifth time the kid turned it over in lap, he sighed.

"What do you keep fondling your hand for?" Kanda snapped irritably. "It's just a hand."

"What?" Allen asked, startled. He thought about it for a moment, and then sighed. "I wish it was just a hand."

"Don't tell me you've got three feet," Kanda ground out, taking another right on a side street.

"Not quite," Allen said, smiling faintly.

"Che, freak." There was silence for a moment, and then, because his curiosity was getting the better of him, Kanda asked, "So why did you not tell Lavi that you're really a crossdressing waitress at that restaurant?"

Allen flushed. "Well…you know Lavi," he responded quietly. "Lenalee thought it would be better if we just told him that my guardian owned the place instead of saying that I worked there." Kanda had to admit – however grudgingly – that that was probably true. "But it wasn't a lie either. My guardian really does own the place."

"And you work at a coffee shop too?"

"And a grocery store," Allen added.

Kanda looked over at the kid sharply. "You work three jobs?" he demanded. "Why?" He looked back at the road and quickly changed lanes before turning left.

"Weren't you listening at dinner?" Allen asked, rather hollowly, Kanda noted. "I have to pay off Master's debts. And I still have to save up for college." He sighed. "My Master doesn't want to pay for anything he doesn't have to. We only have minimal insurance and won't buy anything new unless he has to. And he's horribly cheap." He smiled sadly. "I haven't gotten a Christmas present in almost eight years."

"Don't expect any sympathy from me, kid," Kanda warned him.

"No, I don't!" Allen said quickly. "I'm not stupid, whatever you might say." They turned onto Belleview Street. "It's still a ways down," he commented. "Keep going. Anyways, you wanted to know why I worked three jobs. I was just explaining."

Kanda didn't respond to that. Instead, he was busy looking at the apartments lining the roads. He didn't like the looks of this neighborhood. The buildings were old, vine-covered and altogether looked quite dingy. Some of them probably needed to be condemned. There were alleyways between them, dark and intimidating. He only lived a few streets over, but it was remarkable the amount of difference a block could make. He lived in the lower middle-class part of town – Allen obviously lived in the poorest part.

"It's that one up there," Allen said suddenly, pointing to what had to be one of the worst buildings on the street. Kanda slowed down a bit as he approached. Several of the windows were cracked, there were chunks of cement missing from the stairs, a blackened fire stain near the right upper corner, the grass was patchy at best and there were several people smoking on the front porch, ashtrays scattered along the railing.

Kanda stopped. "This is where you live?" he asked Allen, for once with no trace of malice in his voice.

"Yep," Allen said, sighing. "It's all I could afford. The inside's not too bad though. Except when the heating system breaks. Then I have to fix it since the landlord's too cheap to hire a repairman."

"This place is a dump," Kanda said rather bluntly.

"Yeah well," Allen agreed, flushing a bit. "Hopefully when I get into college I'll be able to live in a dorm on campus." He opened up the passenger door and got out. "Thanks for dropping me off!" he said cheerfully before walking around the car and heading up the walkway to the front door. Kanda didn't move for a moment, just letting the car idle there. He waited until the people on the porch started yelling at him to buzz off before he actually moved (but not before he flipped them off).

As he drove the remaining blocks to his own apartment, he thought about everything that had happened this evening. Allen Walker certainly wasn't what he seemed; and after seeing where he lived, Kanda almost felt sorry for him. _Almost. _Something still bugged him about the kid though. He couldn't put his finger on it just yet, but he knew he'd figure it out eventually. Evidently, since they were now mutual friends with Lavi, they'd have to see each other a lot more. As he pulled into the parking lot for his apartment complex, he realized that he hadn't really fought with Allen the entire ride home. He'd actually…found the kid's company to be not-so-terrible.

His surprise lasting only a moment, he shook his head slightly before getting out of the car and locking, pocketing his keys. Perhaps Allen wasn't such a brat. But then, thinking back on dinner…maybe he was. He snorted. Nah, what was he thinking? A bean sprout would always be a bean sprout. Nothing more. Nothing less.

* * *

**Long chapter, haha...but there needed to be some more interaction. Anyways, I rather like this chapter even though it's not as funny as some of the others, and seems a little slow. Gotta have that necessary plot development, you know. So, next update...sometime in the next few weeks. I don't know how long this fic is gonna be either. Or if the rating will change. Would you guys like it if the rating changed? I don't mind writing lemons. But I haven't totally decided yet.**

**Don't forget to review :3!!  
**


	5. Vermilion

**Hello again!!**

**Haha, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer and longer!! It's kind of funny, in my opinion. But anyways, I felt like releasing something on Valentine's Day, but I'm not very good at writing one-shots, so I decided to just update with a new chapter of this story!! Of course, this means the next update probably won't be until the end of February or beginning of March...but I'll see what happens. So, anyways, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! Or Singles Awareness Day, if you prefer (though I don't really know what's happy about that...)!! I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm going out with a few friends to a movie and then we're going out to eat. It's LadIeZ nITe!! And no, we don't really spell it that way. I'm just in a good mood this morning.**

**So, this chapter has quite a few different themes. It's more of an information chapter, but I think there's some funny parts too. I would say that it's overall more serious though. But just wait until next chapter - it's gonna be fun, and probably extra long. **

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed/faved/alerted!! I love y'all bunches (in a totally platonic way of course)!!

* * *

**

"Hey, Moyashi-chan!"

Allen looked up when he heard someone call out the annoying nickname he had been bestowed. To his surprise, he saw Lavi walking towards him, a big, goofy smile on his face. Allen wiped his hands on his apron and moved over a bit so he wouldn't be in the way of his coworkers. He smiled as the red-head approached. "Hey, Lavi," he said, reaching down to grab a cup and writing down the order on it. He handed it off to the girl beside him before taking his apron off and stepping out from behind the counter.

"Eh?" Lavi asked, surprised. "Are you sure you can just leave like that?"

Allen turned around. "Hey, Sarah, I'm taking my break now," he said. A blonde girl smiled and nodded before squirting some whipped cream on the top of a latte. He turned back to face Lavi. "Yeah." He followed the other to a small table pushed against the side of the room.

"That's so cool!" Lavi gushed. "I wish I could work here."

Allen snorted. "You'd just hit on the girls and drink all the coffee," he said, smiling mischievously.

"Probably," Lavi agreed, nodding.

"So what did you come here for?" Allen asked curiously. "Besides coffee," he noted, pointing to the French vanilla cappuccino in his friend's hands. Apparently it had been too cold for one of those strawberry frappuccinos. "I didn't even see you come in."

"Nah, I went through the drive thru," Lavi said. "But then I realized you worked here, so I decided to come inside!" He paused to take a drink. "I got something to ask you, Moyashi-chan."

"Okay."

"Now I'm depending on you here, buddy," the red-head continued, leaning forward conspiratorially. "I can't go to anyone else for advice on this particular subject. You're my go-to guy, my number-one ally, my partner in crime, my-"

"I get it, I get it," Allen interrupted. He liked Lavi, but he didn't want to hear the guy prattle on about something forever. In the past week or so since they'd all gone out to eat together, he'd learned – rather quickly – that you had to shut Lavi up, because he sure as hell never shut up on his own. He wouldn't take offense to it; for your sanity, it was a necessary thing. "What do you need my help with?"

"Christmas is coming!"

Allen blinked when there was no following statement. "I still don't understand what I'm supposed to help you with," he said. "Putting up your Christmas tree?"

Lavi laughed. "Ha-ha, of course not, Moyashi-chan!" he said. "I put mine up ages ago!" His expression turned serious. "I need to know what to get Lenalee for Christmas." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, holding his chin contemplatively. "I want something…bodacious."

"Bodacious?" Allen repeated flatly.

"Yeah!" Lavi said enthusiastically. "Absolutely fan-freaking-tastic! I wanna blow her out of the water, knock her socks off, that kind of thing!" He sighed again. "The only thing is, I don't know what to get her. Sure, we've been dating for a month or two now, but I honestly have no idea."

"Well, what were you thinking of getting her?" Allen asked, trying to find some kind of starting point. He didn't really like talking about Christmas. For one thing, it wasn't like he ever got anything, so there was no point in looking forward to it. For another, he had to spend it alone – and Christmas alone sucked, big time. But the one reason that he didn't like Christmas was because it brought up bad memories from his past. Memories he wanted to put behind him.

"That's the thing!" Lavi said, suddenly leaning forward again. Allen made a mental note to always give him decaf coffee from now on. "She's not really a lotion and body stuff kind of girl. Plus I bet Komui gets her lots of that. You never wanna give a girl clothes-"

"Why not?" Allen interrupted, frowning. Lenalee loved shopping and clothes – why wouldn't she appreciate them as a gift?

"Dude," Lavi said, shaking his head. "You've never had a girlfriend before, have you?" Allen shook his head, flushing slightly in embarrassment. "You do _not _buy girls clothes. Trust me."

"Why not?" Allen repeated.

"Because you can never buy them something that they want," was the answer. "It'll always be the wrong color – for the record, most girls generally don't like mustard yellow – or the wrong size – and trust me, that does _not _go over well – or they don't like it – even though they'll say they like it when you ask." He sighed.

"Then how come girls can buy clothes for their friends?" Allen asked, slightly confused now.

"Because they're _girls," _Lavi pointed out. "Girls know what other girls want. And they have this weird sixth sense about what size to get too. Of course, I suppose I could always see if she has any gay friends. They tend to be pretty fashion conscious." Suddenly, Lavi looked him over appraisingly. "Say, Allen…you're not gay, are you?"

"Wha-?" Allen blinked, startled by the question. But his surprise quickly turned into irritation. "Lavi!"

Lavi held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, hey, hey, no need to get bent outta shape," he said quickly. "I was just checking. It's not like it would've mattered even if you were. But anyways, back to the gifts! I know she likes music a lot. And I know she likes reading those chick books."

"Chick books?" Allen repeated.

"Yeah, the ones that have some guy with his shirt open holding a blonde girl with big boobs on the cover," Lavi said absently. "That romancey stuff. They all eat it up for some reason. I have no idea why. I've read a few myself, but they aren't that good. But she likes them." He shrugged. "So, got any ideas?"

"Why don't you just ask her what she wants?" Allen suggested. He didn't really have enough money to buy people presents, but he figured that if he did, that would be what he would do. Wasn't that just the sensible thing to do?

"WHAT?!" Lavi yelped, sounding scandalized. "No, no, no, no, no, you can't do that, Moyashi-chan!"

"And why not?" Allen asked, starting to get somewhat annoyed. He hadn't taken his morning break – the one and only morning break – just to get advice from Lavi on how to handle gift-giving in relationships. If he ever was in that kind of situation, he'd just wing it. That was his kind of style. He hadn't known that there were _rules. _

"Because then they know what you're getting them!"

"Isn't that the point?" Allen asked. "That way, they aren't disappointed, and you can get them something they'll actually like."

Lavi shook his head and sighed before reaching over to rest a hand on Allen's shoulder. "Patience, my young Padawan," he said stoically. "Much to learn, you still have."

Allen rolled his eyes and shrugged off Lavi's hand. "You're not Yoda, Lavi," he said. "And I'm not a Padawan learner."

"Geez, can't a guy use pop culture references in a sentence without getting shot down like a turkey in hunting season?" Lavi demanded of the sky. He sighed again, shaking his head. "So anyways, you think she'd like a book?"

"Would you get her something else too, or just a book?" Allen asked thoughtfully. Most of the books he saw at the bookstore were generally cheap, especially if you bought a paperback. That was kind of a cheap present, in his opinion. "They're kind of…cheap, aren't they?"

"Eh, you got me there, Moyashi-chan!" Lavi exclaimed, giggling a bit. "Hmmm…well, how about that CD she's been wanting? The one by that Japanese boy band she likes?"

"She'd probably like that," Allen confirmed.

"I'll look into that when I get home, then," Lavi said. He looked down at the watch on his wrist and suddenly jumped up. "Crap!" Allen just looked up at him blankly as he grabbed his coffee and fumbled in his pockets for his keys. "I gotta get to class!" He threw Allen an apologetic look. "Sorry, Allen – gotta run!" He gave a mock salute before rushing out the door, nearly running some poor teenager over in the process. Allen just smiled and shook his head. Lenalee must really like him – how else would she put up with such a guy?

"Allen!"

Allen turned around when he heard his name being called yet again. Sarah was leaning over the counter, a slightly flustered look on her face. "Yeah?" he called back.

"Look, I know your break isn't over yet, but we just had a boatload of people line up in the drive thru," she explained, a sheepish look on her face. "Is there any way you could man the register? I have to run the in-store register since Caleb just got off."

He smiled. "Sure," he said, standing up.

"Thanks," she breathed, obviously relieved. "I owe you one, Allen."

"Don't worry about it," he said, grabbing his apron and putting it on. He lifted up the partition that divided the employees' space from the customers' and headed over to the drive thru window, putting on a headset and adjusting it to fit him properly. He pushed the little button on the side of the headphone with his left hand, right hand poised over the register. "Good morning! Welcome to Starbuck's, my name is Allen! What can I get for you today?"

* * *

Allen plopped himself down at his kitchen table, finished with dinner and its necessary clean-up. It wasn't too late, only about nine o'clock, and he had to finish up some calculations. Pulling a small stack of papers towards him, he lifted up the top sheet off the stack and stared at it for a while. It was a diagram of a building, complete with tiny pictures of doors, windows, stairs and furniture. Unfortunately, he didn't have a photographic memory. Combine that with his inherently bad sense of direction, and he was horribly bad at finding his way around. But he had to learn this one! This time, it was actually important.

So deep in thought was he that he jumped when his cell phone rang. He stared at the small device on the table; it had lit up as soon as it had started ringing. It wasn't technically his cell phone; it belonged to his Master. But the man said he needed to be able to contact Allen at any times – thus this cell phone had been one of only three gifts the man had ever given him. The other two were his laptop, Timcanpy – which was outfitted with some weird, primal artificial intelligence system – and a box of condoms – for when Allen was _ready. _Cross had mentioned that he didn't intend on paying for yet another brat. Allen had thrown them away, of course. But the phone and Timcanpy were nice enough.

With a sigh, he picked up the phone. He knew who it was going to be. There was only one person who ever called him on the cell phone. Everyone else used the land line to contact him. Bringing it up to his ear, he tentatively asked, "Hello?" Step one of the Counteract Cross's Naturally Crappy Attitude Plan – find out what kind of mood the insufferable man was in. Depending on the results of step one, you either went to step two or step four.

"Oi," a rough voice grunted. "I gave you the damn phone so I could reach you. Don't wait until the last time it rings before you pick it up!"

Aaaaaaand he was in a bad mood. Alright, now it was time to go to step two – apologize (even if he'd done nothing wrong, this was still step two). "Er, sorry, Master," he said quietly. "I was in the other room." That was a lie, and he was sure Cross knew it too, but knowing the other man, he wouldn't press the matter. He would probably just insult him a bit more.

"Idiot disciple," Cross muttered. He sighed and cleared his throat. "Do you have the diagrams?"

Allen looked down at the stack of paper in front of him. "I'm looking at them right now," he said.

"Good," Cross said. "Go to page twenty-five." He paused, giving Allen enough time to flip through the pages until he found the right one. To his surprise, this one was a sheet of music. It was insanely complex, and Allen had never seen anything like it. It was so random; it almost looked as if someone had just placed random notes on the lines and then connected them. "It's music, right?" He was drawn from his thoughts by his master's prompting voice.

"Yes," Allen replied.

"Memorize how to play that," Cross told him. "By the end of next month."

"For what?" Allen asked. He wasn't surprised by this rather random request from Cross. The one thing Cross had done for him in their years spent traveling the globe on trips – since Cross worked for the government, though he was currently undercover – was had him taught music. He had an aptitude for it, and he was pretty darn good at playing piano if he didn't say so himself. He wasn't as fond of his singing voice, but everyone that he'd sang for had said it was nice to listen to as well.

"The same mission I've been working on for the past few years," Cross retorted. "What the fuck else would it be for? Idiot." Allen sighed as he carried out step three – go along with whatever the man said and do what he wanted, ignoring any insults, no matter how hurtful they were. "Just learn the music and memorize it for me."

"Alright." Allen blinked as the line went dead. Taking the phone away from his ear, he shook his head when he'd discovered that the man had hung up on him. Honestly, did the guy have no manners? How hard was it to say good-bye? That was only one word, two syllables and seven letters. While two year olds could say good-bye, Cross apparently couldn't. What irony. But then again, the man did have a mental age of about two (meaning he did whatever he wanted and refused to do things he didn't want to do).

Pushing himself back from the table, he picked up the stack of papers and made his way into his small bedroom, turning off the light in the kitchen. He set the papers down on the bedside table and picked up the sheet of music before heading over to the small keyboard that was set up in the corner. It was his prized possession, the one thing he'd splurged on. It wasn't a great keyboard, and it was rather old – but it made music, and that was the important thing. Sitting down on a stool, he set the music up in front of him. The lighting in this room was naturally bad, so he had to squint a little and lean over to read the music, limiting the amount of free space his fingers had.

Slowly, he began to play, focusing on getting the notes and rhythms right, and not on speed. As he began to play, he discovered that it was actually a beautiful piece of music. It was hauntingly beautiful though, a sad melody in a minor key that made you wonder what the composer had been thinking of while writing it. Soon enough, he found himself finished. It wasn't too long – only about five minutes or so, and that was at a slower tempo than the piece dictated.

Taking a brief break to crack his knuckles, he bent over and began to play again. The piece may've been easy slow, but he still had a long way to go before he was up to speed. And those rhythms were gonna be a bitch at allegrissimo (1).

* * *

Kanda stared at the computer screen before him, asking himself for the millionth time that night why in God's name he was doing this. Ever since that night about a week and a half ago when he'd been forced to go out to eat with Lavi and the other two, he couldn't get that kid out of his head. He wasn't sure why he was so curious about the brat – since he normally didn't give a flying fuck about anyone – but there was something there that piqued his interest. Which was why he found himself combing the website of that stupid restaurant where Allen worked as a waitress.

To be honest, he was just looking for anything that seemed suspicious. Allen had said that his Master owned the place. That was how he'd gotten a job there so easily and how he kept his gender hidden so effectively. He'd looked through the online menu, as well as the biography section, and he'd even taken a look at the page that gave information on how to set up a get-together or sports party. Nothing had really caught his interest. With a sigh, he clicked on the tab near the top of the site that said Employment.

He was instantly taken to another page with a detailed list of qualifications – though Kanda suspected anyone with breasts, bleached teeth and a fake tan was hired – and posted available positions. At the bottom of the page, it gave a list of managers and their phone numbers, in case you wanted to talk to someone about work experiences. It also gave the name of the owner; _that _was what caught Kanda's eyes.

Cross Marian. He knew that name. That man was in the government, one of the agents that worked for the CIA as spies and secret operatives. One of the youngest top-class agents in recent history, actually; he was supposedly quite competent, but had a reputation for being a womanizing cheapskate who only did those assignments that suited his fancy. He also had a reputation for disappearing at the most inopportune times imaginable. And how did he know all this? Tiedoll, of course.

Tiedoll had used to be a spy, but he'd retired from the agency several years ago. He hadn't been in field work for a long time, but he'd been kept around as the second-in-command for a while because of his eye for detail and genial manner. The artist job was just a cover-up. Well, now it wasn't, but for a long time, it had been. It had made things even easier, to be honest – the old man had had an excuse to go around the world without rival governments getting suspicious.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. But why would Cross Marian be here, running a restaurant? The restaurant had been in business for about two years now. That would mean that the man was either running a long-term mission in the area, or was running away. Or both. He quickly moved away from that site, heading to a search engine and typing in the man's name. Many different hits popped up, mostly in blogs from woman who were either pissed beyond all knowledge that he'd basically slept with him and then left or were mourning his absence and begging him to come back. There was also the restaurant website. But he wasn't looking for a sob story or a flaming blog article.

He clicked on the first biography that he saw. It was an official government site, and as such had a locked-in password combination. The page wasn't accessible for normal people. He smirked. He'd seen this security program before. It was a cakewalk to hack into. And with all the free time that Lavi assumed he spent doing nothing, he'd perfected the art of hacking into computers. It was so _easy. _He opened up a separate program and began using a few encoding scripts to get some information. Honestly, with all the money the government was dumping down the drain on stupid shit, you'd think they could at least buy a decent security program.

After a few minutes of waiting, he'd gotten the codes to the access page. Memorizing them quickly, he exited the second program and went back to the internet, typing in the codes. Immediately, the page popped up. He sorted through the random e-mails that came up from the person's identity that he was using to view the page. When he got back to the biography, he began to read.

Luckily, it was very in-depth, and was right on target with its assumptions about Cross's real job. Apparently, he used a golden pistol as his weapon; Kanda couldn't understand why anyone would use such a flashy, not to mention tacky, weapon. Swords were so much better. Apparently, he was in his early thirties, was a chronic smoker and alcoholic with a talent for gambling. He was absolutely uncanny at escaping from tricky situations and had never once failed on a mission. He had enough clout to hand-pick the missions he wanted, as well as enough leeway to get away with practically anything.

Kanda froze when the article suddenly mentioned someone he hadn't expected to find there – Allen Walker. He read that paragraph out loud, as if to assure himself that it was really there. "Cross's charge, a young man from Great Britain named Allen Walker – whom Cross adopted after the unfortunate death of his caretaker, Mana Walker – is perhaps the greatest weapon in this agent's arsenal. Known worldwide in the underground for his incredible gambling skills, Walker has long been Cross's personal secretary, keeping all his mission files and filling out his paperwork for him.

"Walker is not an agent himself, though it has been assumed by many that he would be welcomed with open arms into the organization should he ever profess a desire to do so. Many of his skills are related to those of a common thief, apparently gained from his rough childhood that predated that of his life with Mana Walker, and include being an accomplished pickpocket, lock picker, acrobat and musician, specifically a pianist. His age is roughly estimated at about twenty years, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."

Kanda sat back in his chair. The Moyashi – an accomplished sidekick to a personal elite government operative? He shook his head. No way. The whole thing was just too ridiculous to be true. There was no way – no fucking way in hell that the brat did anything like that…right?

He blinked as he heard the phone ring. With a sigh – he had a guess who it was – he closed the internet and stood up to walk into the kitchen. He yanked the phone up and held it up to his ear. "What?"

"Hey, Yuu-chan!" Fuck. Why were his suspicions always right? For once in his life, couldn't he pleasantly surprised? Couldn't it have been _someone else? _Anyone was better than Lavi. Except for maybe Daisya. But that idiot hadn't called Kanda once since the time Kanda had practically beaten him to a pulp for that one prank call Lavi had dared him to do.

"What?" Kanda repeated, leaning against the wall.

"I got a question for ya!"

"Then spit it out, bastard," Kanda grunted, glaring across the room at the sink.

"So…whaddaya think I should get Allen for Christmas?" Lavi asked. "I have no idea what to get him!"

"…and you're asking _me _this?" Kanda asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes," the red-head said slowly. "So, got any ideas?"

"How about a muzzle to keep him from talking so much," Kanda suggested bluntly. That would be the first thing on his list to get the brat.

"Yuu-chan!" Lavi said, sounding shocked. "Allen's not a dog!"

"Really, Lavi?" Kanda asked, rolling his eyes. "I would've never known if you hadn't told me."

"Well, you're welcome for that," the other said happily. "So, I was thinking of getting him a coat."

"A coat."

"Yeah!" Lavi said emphatically. "Haven't you ever noticed how he's always wearing just a jacket, or a hoodie? I've never seen him wear a coat! I asked him about it once and he just said that he couldn't afford one, so he just layered up." Kanda supposed that was right, now that he thought about it – he had never once seen Allen wear a coat. "So, whaddaya think?"

"He would probably like anything you got him, Lavi," Kanda said, in a surprisingly neutral tone of voice. He couldn't help but recall his last conversation with kid when he was taking Allen home. He'd said that he hadn't gotten a Christmas present in almost eight years. You could've probably bought the brat a pet rock and he would've been happy about it.

"Hmmm, you wouldn't happen to know his size, would you?"

"Extra small," Kanda said, smirking.

He heard Lavi laugh on the other end. "I don't think he's that tiny, Yuu-chan!" he said. "I think I'll go for small though. And probably something in black. That would go really well with his hair, don't you think?" Kanda made no comment. "Oh! What do you want for Christmas, Yuu?"

"You to move to Antarctica," Kanda muttered in all seriousness.

"Meh, no can do, Yuu-chan!" Lavi said. "I've got responsibilities here!"

"Che, responsibilities and you are two words that do not belong in the same sentence."

"Oh, don't be so mean! You'll never get a date that way!"

"What makes you think I'm looking for a date?" Kanda asked dangerously. Lavi had tried to get him to go out on blind dates quite frequently, but his answer was always no. He had told the stupid red-head that when he found someone who interested him enough, he'd ask them out. He did not need Lavi's help to procure a date, regardless of the fact that almost no one he met caught his attention.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, not a thing," Lavi said quickly.

"That's what I thought," Kanda said, his smirk returning. "Are you done now?"

"Wait, don't hang up yet!" Lavi said. Kanda waited for the following sentence, anticipating another invitation of sorts. "Okay, so you know how Christmas is only one and a half weeks away? Well, I was gonna throw a party this Friday! Lavi's Christmas Extravaganza! I totally expect you to be there, Yuu-chan."

"A party?" Kanda asked blankly. "You expect me to come to a Christmas party that you're throwing?"

"Well, you _are _my best pal, you know!" Lavi pointed out. "You don't have to stay for the whole time. Just drop in and say hi for an hour or so! It's from eight to one at Gramps' house." Lavi lived at his grandfather's house; coincidentally, Kanda had figured out that the old geezer who ran the help desk at the museum happened to be Lavi's grandfather and legal guardian. Apparently, his parents had died when he was young. "But remember to wear something festive!"

"Che." Like Kanda had anything festive in his closet. His color pallet included blue, black, gray, white and an occasional dark purple item. He certainly did not wear anything green or red. They were atrocious, garish colors that hurt his eyes. Together, they were even worse.

"Lenalee's gonna be there," Lavi went on. He then continued to know off a list of people they knew from either work or their classes. Kanda didn't recognize all the names, but he knew a few of them. Most of them were Lavi's idiot friends. His brothers had also been invited. Well, maybe he'd go for an hour and talk to Marie; he, at least, was tolerable. "Ah, but Allen won't be there, Yuu-chan! Isn't that so sad?"

"Why not?" Kanda asked absently.

"He has to work until ten, and then get up early for his job on Saturday," Lavi explained. "I told him I'd save him some candy though! He loves sweets, apparently."

"Figures," Kanda muttered.

"So, you're gonna come, right?" Lavi asked.

"I'll think about it," Kanda said, knowing full well that if he didn't show up for at least a half an hour he would be dragged there anyways. He'd go for as little time as possible and then get the hell out of there and get something to eat that wasn't sweet or fruity or anything else like that. He hated sweet things. Before Lavi could say anything else, he hung up the phone. Walking back into the living room, he sat down at the computer again, staring at the screensaver floating across the monitor. Pushing his recent conversation aside, he thought back to what he'd read about Allen.

It couldn't be true, could it? It just didn't seem rational. If he was so good at gambling, why the heck was the kid so poor? Unless, of course, he wasn't really poor at all and the squalor and sob story were just a cover-up. But then again, Cross had a reputation for being horribly cheap. If he was working on a long-term mission here and had to set up a fake identity, then of course he'd make the brat live away from him. Kanda wasn't stupid; in fact, once he was finished with college, he intended to follow in Tiedoll's footsteps. He had studied many of the cases that Tiedoll had finished when he was younger. He knew how these people worked.

With a sigh, he pushed himself up and wearily went over to the phone again. There was no helping it. As much as hated doing it, he needed to call Tiedoll. He needed to talk to the man as soon as possible

* * *

"Hey, Allen, you're a guy, right?" Lenalee asked him, absently swirling a stirring stick in her cup of hot chocolate.

Allen choked on his own cup of the hot liquid, coughing violently for a moment or two before being able to respond. Flushing, he murmured, "Well, if I'm not, I've been buying the wrong underwear." Lenalee smiled at him. "Why?"

"Well…" she trailed off, taking a sip before continuing. "I want to know what to get Lavi for Christmas. I really want to get him something good this year, only I have no idea what. My brother gets all defensive any time I talk to him about it. He thinks he's the only one I should buy things for." She shook her head affectionately, and Allen couldn't help but smile a bit. He had always wanted a sibling; most of his friends had them. Of course, he didn't want a completely neurotic one like Komui Lee, but a normal brother or sister wouldn't have been so bad. But Cross wasn't in the habit of adopting stray kids; to be honest, he had no idea why the man had picked him up in the first place. He had never been shy of expressing his dislike of having to drag a kid around with him.

"Well, what were you thinking of getting him?" Allen asked. To be honest, he wasn't sure why everyone seemed to ask him what to get their lover for the holidays. It wasn't just Lavi and Lenalee – his coworkers did the same thing. It was getting a little old, actually – not to mention it was like pouring lemon juice in a fresh papercut, since he wasn't getting anything for Christmas. It stung a bit, despite his best efforts to suppress the feeling.

"Um…I really have no idea," she confessed. "He doesn't smoke, so I can't get him a lighter. He already has a watch. I'm pretty he's read all of the books at the bookstore. He doesn't need any clothes or shoes." She sighed. "I have no idea!"

"Well, why don't you get him a gift card or something?"

"Allen!" she exclaimed, her jaw dropping open. "You can't just get someone a gift card!"

This was beginning to sound like his conversation with Lavi, he thought ironically. "And why not?" he asked flatly.

"That's just so…it's so impersonal!" Lenalee said. "You get people gift certificates when you don't know them well enough to get an actual present. Either that, or they're not important enough to waste valuable time and effort shopping for them." She shook her head. "Lavi needs something special."

"A wallet?" Allen suggested weakly.

"Why would he want a wallet?" Lenalee asked, tilting her head to the side somewhat.

"It was just a suggestion," Allen said, waving it off dismissively. "Perhaps you should make him something."

"…make him something?"

"Yeah," Allen said, nodding. "Like, bake a cake or something, or cookies. Oh! You like to make that beaded jewelry, don't you?" Lenalee nodded, following him. "Well, you could always make him a necklace or something. I'm sure he'd wear it."

She thought about it for a moment. "Well, Lavi does like sweets," she said slowly. After a few more moments, she broke out into a huge, beaming smile. "That's a great idea, Allen! You're so smart; I knew you would come up with the perfect gift!"

They chatted for a few more minutes until Lenalee had to go back to class. After she'd left, Allen stayed sitting down, absently stirring his drink. He knew he shouldn't be feeling so sulky right now. He'd told his friends not to get him anything for Christmas. He certainly couldn't get them anything in return, so what was the point? He sighed. He shouldn't be feeling so…jealous. Yes, that was the right word, no matter how ugly it was. He didn't need gifts to let him know his friends cared about him, he didn't need presents. He didn't even need a lover to make him feel appreciated. Nope, he was perfectly happy on his own. Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself.

He looked up as the bell above the café's door chimed. To his immense surprise, Kanda walked in the door, his coat drawn in around him. He apparently didn't see Allen, instead, just walking straight to the counter and ordering a cup of coffee – black, naturally. Allen fidgeted around with his cup nervously, half hoping that he would be seen and half hoping he would be ignored. He couldn't say what it was about Kanda, but Allen liked the other man. Perhaps it was because he was so different from anyone else he knew.

Kanda took you as you were. He didn't judge you based on your status or your appearance. He judged you based on your personality. He wasn't sympathetic and he certainly wasn't pitying; Lavi and Lenalee were, to an extent. He knew that they felt bad for him. Kanda didn't give a crap – he seemed to have a policy that if you worked hard enough, you could do anything. And Kanda probably could, Allen surmised.

"Moyashi?"

Allen looked up to see Kanda staring straight at him, surprise in his dark eyes. His facial expression hadn't changed at all though. Allen had quickly gathered that Kanda's emotions were only really visible in his eyes. It was like his facial muscles didn't work properly. "H-hi, Kanda," he stammered out, scolding himself internally for sounding stupid. "What are you doing here?"

"Che, getting coffee," Kanda replied, rolling his eyes. "What else would I be here for?" He looked down at Allen's cup of hot chocolate. "I thought you said you didn't eat out a lot." Allen recalled having mentioned something like that at the dinner they'd all attended, but he didn't expect Kanda to have remembered. Besides, did hot chocolate really count as eating out? He doubted it.

"I work here," he said flatly. "I'm allowed to get free drinks every now and then."

Kanda paused for a moment. "Che," he finally said. To Allen's surprise, he moved and sat down across from him. He took a sip of his coffee before sitting back. Allen scrunched his nose up in distaste.

"Aren't you going to put any sugar in that?" he asked.

"No," Kanda said tersely. "I hate sweet things."

"How can you hate sweets?" Allen asked incredulously. "Everyone likes sweets!"

"Well, not me."

Allen smiled lightly. "I guess I should've expected that," he admitted. Kanda looked over at him questioningly. "You don't really seem like the type of person who'd like sweets."

"And you seem like the kind of annoying kid who always want sweets," Kanda retorted. Allen would've normally taken offense at that, but Kanda's tone was…almost…teasing? No, that couldn't be right. But either way, it didn't sound malicious.

"I like sweets," Allen agreed. "It's probably because I don't get them very often."

Kanda shook his head. "Why do you put up with your stupid Master anyways?" he asked.

"What?" He certainly hadn't been expecting _that _to come out of Kanda's mouth next.

"You said that you had to pay off his debts," Kanda continued, looking away. "You're a legal adult now, so he's not technically your guardian anymore. So why don't you just drop him and live your own life?"

Allen had certainly thought about that before. It would make things a hell of a lot easier. But he couldn't do that, for reasons he couldn't give to Kanda. "I can't do that," he said, shaking his head. He quickly made up a small lie that he knew the other wouldn't question. "It's really the debts from when I was younger that I'm paying off. Plus, he took me in even when I wasn't related to him…I guess I just feel like I owe him."

"You do know that he's just using you, right?"

Allen blinked. "What?" he asked slowly.

"You think I don't know who owns that restaurant, who your _Master _is?" Kanda sneered. "Che, think again, Moyashi. From what I've heard of him, he's a womanizing bastard who's notorious for randomly disappearing to get out of his debts. People like him don't care who has to pay the money as long as it's not them. At this rate, you'll never go to college."

Allen breathed an internal sigh of relief. For a moment there, it had sounded like Kanda knew about his Master's real job! Now it seemed as if he'd just read around about the man's reputation – which was really wasn't all that hard to find if you looked on the internet. The biographies were few and far between; it would take a true computer genius to hack into any database for Cross Marian's information. "Well…that might be true," he admitted. "But I'll take my chances."

"Che." Kanda shook his head. "You're too trusting, Moyashi."

"Well, at least I don't always see the worst in people," Allen retorted, frowning at the other.

Kanda looked back over at him, his eyes hard. "Why should I see anything but the worst in people?" he asked. "That way, you aren't disappointed when they betray you. If you see the best in people, you only end up getting hurt in the end."

"But not everyone betrays you, Kanda," Allen said quietly.

Kanda blinked at him, and then smirked. "If you really think that, then you're more naïve than I thought, brat."

Allen stared at him for a moment, and then chanced a question. "Why are you like this, Kanda?" he asked quietly. "Something had to have happened to make you this way. No one's born a negative cynic."

Kanda froze up suddenly. He looked at Allen, and his eyes were very cold. Allen sat back in his chair almost immediately, his eyes widening. He hadn't expected such a response. "You want to know what happened to me?" the dark-haired man asked quietly. Allen nodded timidly. "You want to know why I'm so negative, so pessimistic, so cynical?" He stood up then, grabbing his cup of coffee. "Try being cursed by your own family and see how positive you can be."

Allen winced as he stalked over to the exit and slammed the door shut. He really hadn't meant to get such a rise out of the other guy! He had just asked a simple question. But he supposed he should've known better. Kanda was a person of extremes – most of the time extremely negative. It would make sense that he wouldn't want to talk about his past. But Allen could sympathize with his sort-of-friend. He knew what it was like to be cursed by your family.

After all, that what was his father had wasted his dying breath doing.

* * *

**(1) If you aren't familiar with classical musical tempos, allegrissimo is VERY fast. Probably somewhere about 180 beats a minute. So like three times faster than a second. **

**I think I'm kind of like of Kanda. I tend to be pretty negative and cynical. But I don't think I'm horribly mean all the time either. Maybe that's why he's relatively easy to write for me, haha. Also, I just wanted to say that I don't write unhappy endings. They may not be perfect, and they maybe not be the best ending, but I don't write tragedies. So, even if it looks like things might not be happy for Allen now, the ending will be perfectly satisfactory (unless I really botch things up, haha). I still haven't decided whether or not to change the rating of this story. I can't decide, lol!! It's certainly tempting, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's still a ways off.**

**Don't forget to review =D!!  
**


	6. Dead Memories

**Hey everyone!!**

**Wow, so I know it's been like a month since my last updates. But I totally have a good excuse - my hard drive flat out died. Seriously. So I had to wait until I was free to fix it. And then I had to reinstall every single freaking program on my computer. To make things even better, I couldn't extract any files off my old hard drive. So I practically lost everything. Luckily, I was able to retrieve all my fanfiction from here. But I lost the original chapter six. And I've only recently been able to write anything else. So this chapter was a little rushed to get out, but I remembered most of the original, so I don't think it's shotty or anything. It's a tad shorter, but the next one will be longer. **

**So again, sorry for the wait. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it a bit.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews, faves and alerts!! You guys are the best!!

* * *

**

Kanda made sure to slam the door behind him as he walked into the front door of his foster father's house. Daisya, who was sitting on the couch, looked up from his magazine (most likely something Tiedoll would blush at and immediately try to burn) and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, didn't expect to see you here," he said dryly. He let the magazine slip shut, though he still marked his place with a finger.

"Fuck off," Kanda snapped, pocketing his car keys.

"Ouch, it bites," Daisya said, rolling his eyes. He opened his magazine and looked down at the pictures once more.

"Where's the stupid old man?" Kanda asked, looking around. There was no one else in the living room or the kitchen, which meant he was going to have to do some searching. Great. Just what he wanted to spend his Saturday morning doing – looking for errant old men.

"I dunno," Daisya said absently. "Probably in his studio painting. Where else would he be on a sunny Saturday morning?"

Kanda decided to ignore that blatant invitation for an argument and instead stalked out of the living room and down the hallway towards a room at the back of the house. He may have not lived here for close to three years now, but he still knew the place like the back of his hand. Of course, there was also the fact that Tiedoll never changed anything – not even the layout of the furniture. The only time something was replaced in this house was if it broke.

He didn't knock on the door to the art studio. Instead, he just pushed the sliding door open and stared inside. He blinked a bit as the harsh sunlight from all five of the windows streamed into his unsuspecting eyes. The art studio was Tiedoll's pride and joy. It was the main reason he'd bought this house. The room was octagonal in shape, and five of the walls were covered in almost floor-to-ceiling length windows. The only other wall that wasn't being occupied by a door had a sink attached to it, wooden cabinets overhead.

In the center of the room was an easel and stool. All around the room, scattered on various pieces of canvas on the floor, were finished paintings, sketches and other pieces of art. Another small open cupboard contained brushes, tubes of paint and all sorts of other art supplies. Kanda only knew that because that was where Tiedoll used to hide his sword Mugen if he'd been "bad" as a kid. Pretty pathetic hiding place, to be honest.

The room smelled of turpentine and cedar wood. Kanda wrinkled his nose at the smell. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it wasn't a favorable odor in any case. He didn't really care for any smell to be honest. Well, the smell of rain wasn't so bad. But that was it. He especially hated cologne and perfume that people wore. It was so cloying and pungent. He supposed some of the stuff _would _smell nice if people didn't practically bathe in it. Had they never heard of overkill?

Tiedoll was, sure enough, standing in the middle of the room, a paint palette in one hand and a brush in the other. He was wearing a pair of beat-up old jeans and a paint-splattered green shirt. The apron over his clothes didn't seem to be doing its job very well, apparently. His hair was held back with little pink butterfly hairclips – where he'd gotten those, Kanda didn't want to know. There was more paint smudged on his face and his glasses were askew. Honestly, why was everyone around him so fucking _weird?! _

"Oi," Kanda grunted, making his presence known.

Tiedoll turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. "Yuu!" he said, setting down his palette and brush. He wiped his hands on his apron before his face broke out into a huge smile. "You never come here! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Che, why would I come here?" Kanda asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

"Well, we are your family, after all," Tiedoll said. "But still, you're here! Do you want something to eat? It's almost lunchtime, isn't it?" He looked down at a wristwatch and nodded. "Yes, it is. I think I'll just have a sandwich for lunch. So do you want something? I can make you my special Super Sassy Salami Sandwich!"

"No thanks," Kanda said flatly. The last time he'd eaten anything over here, he'd gotten food poisoning – idiotic old geezer had conveniently _forgotten _that he'd been painting with lead-based paint, despite the fact that it was illegal here to do so (it was for the color, of course, those non-lead-based paints just didn't compare!). He hadn't even washed his hands!

"Ah, well, that's too bad," Tiedoll said. "So, what did you come here for? I know you wouldn't have come without a reason." He shook his head. "Though I have no idea why…" Trailing off, he walked over to the windows and sat down on the window seat that ran the whole length of the five panes of glass.

Kanda rolled his eyes and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "What do you know about Cross Marian?" he asked quietly.

Tiedoll frowned and uncrossed his arms. "Cross…Marian?" he repeated.

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Kanda said irritably. He hated it when people acted stupid and just repeated parts of questions. It was so very annoying. "The agent in the government agency you used to work for. You know who he is, so don't try and bullshit me."

"No, no, I know who Cross is," Tiedoll said quietly. "But how…how do you know who he is, Yuu?"

"Che, I cracked into the government's information database, how the fuck else do I know?" Kanda snapped, sitting down a few feet away from the older man and crossing his arms over his chest.

"WHAT?!" Tiedoll yelped. "Yuu, that's illegal!" He sounded quite scandalized.

Kanda turned to give him a flat, cold look. "So?"

"So?" Tiedoll repeated, blinking. "So you could end up in jail if anyone finds out!" He sighed, and then looked up to the heavens, as if awaiting divine intervention. "Where did I go wrong?" he asked the ceiling. "What did I do?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. He had to physically force himself not to snap at the old man to put a sock in it; but, after all, this was the man who had raised him – he owed the man at least a modicum of respect. Just a very, miniscule, practically infinitesimal bit of respect. So he waited until the man had calmed down a bit and sighed before looking back over at him. "What do you want to know about Marian?" Tiedoll asked, clearly resigned.

"Apparently, he's been working on an assignment for several years now, in this area of the country," Kanda said quietly. "There wasn't anything on what the assignment was, but it did say he's set up a private base here." His eyes flashed as he looked over at his adoptive father. "He was given that assignment about five years ago. That's just about the time you quit."

Tiedoll blinked at him. "So what exactly are you asking me, Yuu?" he asked quietly. He looked down at his lap, as if he knew the answer to his own question, and yet wanted to hear the other say it. Kanda knew that that was probably what was happening. The old man was terribly easy to read – how he'd become a spy, the dark-haired man would never understand.

"What was that assignment?"

Tiedoll sighed. "I thought that was what you were going to ask," he said. "But I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

"And why not?"

"Because that is classified information," Tiedoll said, running a hand through his hair – well the little puffball in the back that wasn't obstructed by the My Little Pony clips. "When you leave the agency, you are required to take an oath of silence. I can't tell you what the assignment was, or even tell you what it was about other than what you already know."

Kanda clenched his teeth. "Fine," he muttered. He had figured that Tiedoll would give him some bullshit honoring-the-oath answer, but he'd had to take a shot. "Don't tell me about the assignment. Tell me who he's up against."

"Yuu-"

"Oh, cut the crap," Kanda snapped. "I've read the words to your stupid oath of silence. I know what it says. You can't repeat anything confidential. Well, this isn't confidential shit. Anyone could go out and look up stuff about criminals."

Tiedoll paused for a moment before answering. "There is a syndicate in this country currently looking for a way to capture control of nuclear testing facilities," he said slowly, as if he was considering each word as he said it. "Their main base is located here. No one is sure what their final objectives are. There have been many attempts to break into their hideout, but all have been unsuccessful."

"Che, and that's where Cross comes in, right?" Kanda scoffed. Tiedoll didn't answer, but he knew he was right. "Figures as much." He supposed that if there was a top-secret, potentially dangerous criminal syndicate in a country he ran, he would send one of his best agents to try and destroy it as well. But why only one? He belatedly remembered then that Cross didn't work alone – he had Allen with him. But honestly, what could the fucking brat do for a government agent?

"Their name is NOAH," Tiedoll went on. "They call themselves a clan, and it appears as if they are somehow all distantly related. No one knows what the acronym stands for, though it could just be a name. They all seem to have a fascination with the biblical story of Noah's Ark."

"Figures," Kanda snorted. "Only the brat would deal with a bunch of loonies."

"Is that all you wanted, Yuu?" Tiedoll asked, standing up and turning away from him to look outside. "I've really said more than I should have."

"And who the hell's going to ever find out?" Kanda demanded, standing up. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a DVD case (the remnants from the last Tiedoll Family Movie Night) and dropped it onto the window seat. Tiedoll half-looked over his shoulder to see the movie and then broke out into a beaming smile.

"Oh, so you liked the movie?" he asked delightedly. "I was wondering where that was! If you'd wanted to borrow it, you should've just said so!"

Kanda glared at the man. "Why the fuck would I ever want to borrow a stupid Cinderella knock-off?" he asked coldly. "You left it at my place the last time you came over."

"Oh, did I?" Tiedoll asked, his smile slipping a bit. But it soon came back full-force. "Well, you know how it is." He laughed a bit and rapped a fist against the side of his skull. "The old keester's not what he used to be!"

Kanda whirled around and left the room before he massacred something. "You're fucking telling me," he muttered. Sometimes, he wondered why he even bothered.

* * *

"Look, kid, you understand that your rent ain't been paid yet this month."

"Yes, I understand, sir, but-"

"Ya see, I'm runnin' an enterprise here. I can't afford to keep up your apartment if you ain't gonna pay the damn rent! It's once a month! That too hard for ya to understand?"

"No, sir," Allen said quietly.

"Good to know," the landlord said, sighing. "So listen here – I'ma give ya one more week to get the money. Just slip it in the mailbox outside the door an' I'll make sure it gets to me. Got that? One more week. If you ain't got the money by then, ya can say good-bye to your little flat."

"I understand," Allen said. "Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever," the man said gruffly, muttering as he hung up the phone.

Allen grimaced as he hung up the phone in his kitchen. He really never meant to get behind in his rent – honestly. You would think that paying rent would be easy for him considering how many jobs he worked. But Cross made sure that most of that money went to paying off debts. He had to siphon out little portions of his paychecks to make sure he didn't get evicted. And wouldn't that be horrible – no place to live, three jobs and a couple suitcases worth of crap to lug around? He shuddered just thinking about it.

Moving quietly into his bedroom, he sat down on his makeshift piano bench, staring at the music before him. Instead of focusing on the music, he just put his hands on the keys and began to play, letting his eyes drift shut. He'd spent a lot of time over the years memorizing certain pieces of music – his favorites, Cross's favorites…Mana's favorites. He couldn't afford to carry around huge folders of music. It was just easier to memorize them. The one he was currently playing was one of his favorites. It was soft and quiet, beautiful but with a hauntingly sad melody that enchanted him.

He let himself get completely absorbed in the music, not caring that he probably looked ridiculous with his eyes closed and his entire body moving with the emotions behind the piece. This had been one of the first pieces he'd ever heard played by a professional pianist. It had enraptured him from the very beginning. At the time, he'd been living with his original foster parent – Mana Walker. Mana had seen how much he'd loved the piece, and had bought him the music for it.

Whenever he played this piece, it reminded him of Mana. It was sweet, but with a dark edge that spoke of things better left behind. It wasn't overbearing or obnoxious, but had enough variation to be interesting. He absently found himself thinking of Mana, seeing his face in his mind's eye. He saw the man he'd come to call his father smiling, laughing, talking – even sleeping. And then he saw the face he loved so much drawn into an expression of anger, something close to the wrath that was only brought upon betrayal.

His fingers fell slack against the keys as his eyes snapped open. He didn't notice his breathing was shaky until he realized that there was cold sweat on his brow. He looked down at the piano and hastily snatched his hands away from the keys. He couldn't play any more tonight. No. He was done. He moved to stand up.

"Good Lord!" he yelped as the phone rang just then, breaking into the silence with a horribly wailing ring. Picking himself up off the floor from where he'd fallen, he hastily moved into the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Moyashi-chan, my little man!"

Allen smiled wearily. "Hi, Lavi," he said.

"Hi, hi, hi! So, I know you already said that you couldn't come Friday night, but I was just calling to make sure…you really can't come to my Christmas Extravaganza?" His tone was rushed and petulant, like a little kid who wanted something really badly and yet knew they probably wouldn't get it.

Allen blinked, taking a few seconds to process the words. When he'd gotten the gist, he sighed. "Lavi, you know I can't," he said. "I have to work that night. I really would like to go, you know I would, but I'm already behind on my rent. If I don't get the money soon, I'll be evicted."

"Oh, but you could just come live with me, Moyashi-chan!" Lavi proclaimed happily. "Then we'd be roommates! Wouldn't that be amazing?!"

"It would be something, alright," Allen murmured to himself. "And that's nice of you, Lavi, but I really couldn't impose on you like that."

"Fine," Lavi said with a sigh. "But I'm saving you some cake! You're too skinny, honestly! You should eat up! You're never gonna get a date if you don't get some meat on your bones!"

"Lavi, I already told you that that's just how my body works," Allen said patiently. He'd had this discussion with his new red-headed friend several times over the past week or so – and it always ended the same way. He was beginning to wonder if Lavi had short-term memory loss. "I eat a lot. I just never seem to be able to gain any weight."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lavi said quickly. Allen heard what sounded like a doorbell in the background. "Hey, listen, Moyashi-chan, I gotta jet. I got some company now!"

"You have to jet…?" Allen asked flatly.

Lavi made a frustrated noise. "Again with the pop culture references!" he exclaimed. "Do you never watch TV?!" He sighed. "Well, anyways, I have to leave – there, you happy now? – so I'll talk to ya later."

"Okay," Allen murmured, putting the phone back on the receiver as Lavi hung up. He stood there for a moment, not sure of what to do. He didn't want to go back into his bedroom, not right now. The memories just playing the piano had brought up were too painful. He looked over at the clock on the stove. It was only about eight. There was still plenty of time to go and do something real quick.

Making up his mind, he quickly trudged into his living room and grabbed his shoes, pulling them on. He grabbed the key to his apartment, his cell phone and his wallet – not that he really planned on spending any money; he didn't trust the lock to keep thieves out – and pocketed them before heading outside. He didn't know where he was going just yet. All that he knew was that he needed to _go. _

* * *

Kanda walked slowly along the sidewalk, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black coat. It was getting late at night, but he didn't want to go back to his apartment just yet. Despite the fact that he was the world's biggest misanthropist, he surprisingly didn't like being in his apartment by himself that much. There was nothing to do there. He liked the peace and quiet. But that didn't necessarily mean that he liked being alone.

He stopped at the gate to the city park. There were a few people still roaming along the pathways and sitting on the wooden benches, but it was overall rather quiet. Just the way he liked it. Stepping forward, he started to walk along the main path aimlessly. He didn't pay attention to the people on the side of the road, even when they turned to look at him.

After a few minutes of aimless wandering, he found himself staring at the foot of a small, arching wooden bridge that spanned a length of pond water to an island on the other side. He paused for a moment. Sitting down on the bridge was a figure, staring at the water absently. He blinked. It was obvious to him who it was. No one else he knew had practically radioactive hair.

"Moyashi, what are you doing here?" he asked quietly, stepping forward so that he was standing at the base of the bridge.

Allen's head jerked up to look at him, his eyes wide with surprise. "K-Kanda?" he asked. He shook his head. "I was just taking a walk."

"Che, did you forget that walking implies moving?" Kanda asked flatly.

To his surprise, instead of snapping something back at him, Allen just smiled faintly, staring down at the water. "No," he said softly. "I got tired of walking, so I just sat down here." He sighed, and then turned to look back at Kanda. "And what are you doing here? It's hard to imagine you just going for a walk in the park."

Kanda thought about it for a minute. Why was he taking a walk again? Oh, right – he hadn't wanted to go back to his apartment just yet. Walking had seemed like the best way to take his mind off things, namely what the hell Allen and his _Master _were doing here. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it all day. And what Tiedoll had said had only made his curiosity that much stronger.

"Alright then, don't answer me," Allen said suddenly, a touch sullen.

Kanda blinked. He must've been silent for quite a long time as he'd thought about his answer. "I was just thinking," he said. "I was going to answer you."

"Oh, really?"

"I was trying to clear my head," Kanda replied, walking over to stand about three feet away from the brat. He leaned back against the railing so that he was facing the opposite direction.

"Clear your head?" Allen asked.

"Yes, from thinking," Kanda snapped, frowning. "You know, that thought process you don't seem to do too much of." He wasn't really angry at the kid. But honestly, sometimes the brat acted as if he were the world's biggest dunce.

"I do too think," Allen retorted. He fell silent then, staring at the water's surface. Kanda saw out of the corner of his eye as the kid drew his knees into his chest, putting his arms around his knees. He watched as the white-haired boy's mouth opened and then closed once, then twice, and then three times. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself every time.

"Just spit it out, Moyashi," Kanda finally snapped, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Allen asked, blinking up at him.

"You're trying to say something," Kanda reminded him. "Just fucking say it already."

"Oh, right," Allen said, nodding. "Um, well, I wanted to apologize." Kanda blinked and then looked down at him, his gaze piercing. He didn't say anything, but Allen still flushed a bit under the scrutiny. "For what I said the other day…in the Starbucks. I…I don't really know what I said that made you upset…but I'm sorry."

A wave of recognition flooded over Kanda as he remembered what the other was talking about. He didn't really understand what there was to apologize over though. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be him for being so rude. But he didn't do apologies. If he felt bad, he would make it up to you in actions. Like they said, actions spoke louder than words.

"Che, don't apologize," Kanda said, looking away. "Just don't bring it up again."

"You're not mad at me?" Allen asked, surprised.

"No more than I am on a daily basis," Kanda grunted.

Allen sighed. "That's good to know then," he said, relieved. When Kanda looked down at him inquisitively, he continued, "I hate it when people are mad at me, so I always try to make it up to them. But I have no idea how I would've made it up to you." He smiled rather sheepishly.

"Che, you could be quiet," Kanda suggested. Allen laughed faintly, but didn't say anything. While it didn't seem to bother the smaller male, Kanda found the ensuing silence uncomfortable. He fidgeted a little bit, crossing and then re-crossing his arms over his chest. He felt the urge to say something; it was odd. He didn't normally ever want to talk to people, especially about himself. But maybe it was because he knew Allen's life wasn't very good that he felt more comfortable about his own past.

"You wanted to know why I'm always so negative," he said quietly. Allen looked up at him, his eyes shining brightly in the moonlight. "My parents were from Japan. They were a very traditional family. And my father hated me. My mother tried to protect me from him, but she couldn't." He paused before continuing. "He became very ill one day, and it kept progressing to the point that he knew he was going to die. So he asked me to come in and speak with him one last time. I had thought that perhaps he was going to apologize or maybe say something, just one kind thing, to me. But instead, he cursed me, me and my family. A few days after he died, our home was destroyed in a fire, and my mother with it.

"How would you feel if as a child, you were cursed by your own father and then had everything you held dear taken away from you? I hated the world. I hated my father, I hated my mother for loving him, and I hated myself. My mother loved him very much, and yet she still ended up dead. What's the point in being nice and optimistic if all that it brings is pain?" He shook his head. "There is no point."

Allen was quiet for a moment, and just sat there, staring at him. "I guess you're right about that," he said finally, looking down. "But if you don't love at all…you aren't going to be happy. Isn't it better to be happy some of the time than miserable all of the time?"

Kanda froze. He knew that Allen was right; he'd heard others speak those same words to him before. But they held no meaning because most people who said that hadn't experienced what he had. But he had a feeling that Allen had. He had a hunch that Allen's life story was even more tragic than his own. "And what would you know of that?" he asked.

Allen opened his mouth to reply, but just then, an annoyingly cheerful cell phone went off. Kanda rolled his eyes – it figured that the brat had one of _those _ring tones. "Sorry," Allen murmured, flushing. He fished around in his jacket pocket for a minute before bringing out a small cell phone and holding it up to his ear. "Hello?" The sound of harsh yelling immediately broke the silence; Kanda could hear it even from where he stood, several feet away. Allen winced and held the phone away from his ear.

"I'm sorry!" he said quickly. "I didn't mean to!" There was more yelling. "Yes." The voice quieted after that, though it still sounded quite angry. "I know." Pause. "I know." Then Allen sighed. "I guess." More yelling. "Alright, alright! I'll go back home!" Another harsh, biting statement. Allen's face turned pale and an expression of incredible hurt crossed his features. "I understand," he said feebly. He hung up the phone then and put the device back in his pocket. Pushing himself up off the ground and clutching his arms around himself – for he wasn't wearing anything but a small, feeble jacket – he gave Kanda an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Kanda watched as the younger man brushed past him, the same hurt look still in his eyes. Surprising even himself, Kanda opened his mouth to speak just as Allen reached the foot of the bridge. "Does he always yell at you?"

Allen froze and half-turned to look back at Kanda. Kanda was surprised to see tears shining in the boy's eyes, as if he were trying not to cry. Forcing himself to smile, the younger man replied, "Don't worry about it, Kanda. I'm used to it by now."

"I still don't understand why you put up with him," Kanda murmured.

"I don't have a choice," Allen said bitterly.

"Everyone has a choice," Kanda said, moving forward to stand next to the other. Allen stared up at him, still suppressing those crystalline tears. "Most people are just too cowardly to take the first step." He leaned over and reached into Allen's pocket, obviously startling the boy, and grabbed the cell phone. Allen flushed and stared at him nervously, obviously unsure of what he was going to do.

Kanda pressed a few keys rapidly. He knew this phone's layout. It was the same one that Tiedoll had. And since the old fart knew nothing about technology, he often got calls at midnight when the old man complained that nothing was working. It was really just the idiot's brain that had ceased functioning.

When he was finished, he put the phone back into Allen's pocket. He wasn't sure why he'd just done that – it had just been an impulse. He normally didn't follow impulses because he wasn't a rash person. He had always been much more rational. But sometimes even he was gotten the better of by his emotions. He turned around and started walking away.

"Wait! Kanda, what did you do to my phone?" Allen called after him.

"There's no point in crying if you have someone who will listen to you," Kanda replied, not even stopping. The brat didn't say anything else, so he just continued walking on down the path to the park entrance. He turned right and started back to his apartment. His mind was, for the first time in several days, relatively at peace. If nothing else, the Moyashi was at least distracting. He didn't normally like distractions, but Allen at least kept things interesting.

After all, he certainly wasn't normal.

* * *

Allen cradled the tiny phone in his hand. He instantly pressed the back button a few times, trying to find out what Kanda had done. None of the settings were different, the ring tone was the same – he'd thought it might be that since Kanda obviously hated anything cheerful and bright – and nothing had been deleted. Frowning, he started pressing applications and scrolling through the menus until he found something odd.

He froze when he finally found it. In his address book – which really didn't consist of very many people, considering that he told people to only call his cell phone if he didn't pick up at home first – was now a new contact. He pressed a button that popped open the full page. Sure enough, Kanda's name appeared on the screen, along with two phone numbers, one for home and one for mobile.

He put the phone back into his pocket after closing all the applications and started walking the opposite direction that Kanda had gone. He couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. This night had been definitely eventful, painful and certainly unexpected. But there was always a silver lining to every cloud. He felt like he had gained something wonderful. And why? Someone was finally willing to be there for him. No one had ever wanted to help him before, even if they did like him.

He didn't think that Kanda particularly liked him. The other man had probably just given up his phone number because he'd shared his own story and felt obligated into hearing Allen's. But that was fine with Allen. Because, even if it wasn't perfectly voluntary, someone still wanted to listen to him.

* * *

**So yeah, more of a serious chapter this time. But considering the next chapter is Lavi's Christmas Extravaganza...you know it won't be that serious, haha. Sorry again about the delay in this chapter. I really do feel bad about leaving everyone hanging like that. Stupid hard drive. But I got my revenge. I threw it off the second-story porch of my house onto the driveway and watched it explode. It was quite fulfilling. **

**Don't forget to review!!  
**


	7. Higher Than Hope

**Hello everyone!!**

**I know it's been a while since I last updated. I was going to update before I went on Spring Break last week, but I didn't have enough of this finished to make it a full chapter. And this chapter still didn't end up as long as I wanted it to be because I decided to split it up into two chapters. Otherwise, it seriously would have been around 10,000 words. But anyways. Also, I started a new DGM story called On a Pale Horse. This isn't a shameless advertisement, I promise (though feel free to read that if you want, haha), I just wanted to say that even though I'm starting that one, it's not going to affect this one. Updates will still be completely regular. Even more so now that the semester is winding down and I really don't have a lot of major projects to do. **

**I also found a totally awesome new band to listen to. Seriously, I listened to them the entire time I was finishing this. I have to listen to music when I write. It's impossible not to, lol. They're the Birthday Massacre and they're seriously freakin' awesome. They're my new music addiction.  
**

**Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!! You guys are the best (but you already knew that, didn't you, hehe?)!!

* * *

**

Kanda stared at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't believe he was doing this. How the fucking hell had he gotten roped into this?! Oh, right…Lavi was a sick son of a bitch and would've dragged him to his stupid party even if Kanda had refused to come. It just saved much time and effort to just go to the fucking party for an hour or so and then get the hell out of dodge. That was why he was now standing on front of his mirror, putting his hair up into its normal ponytail.

He had changed into a black button-up shirt and a pair of dark jeans, adding a few studded belts for emphasis. Lavi had said the party was "dressy casual", whatever the fuck that meant. Seriously, was it dressy or casual? Whoever had coined the term just needed to make up their fucking mind already. So he had just picked what he felt was worthy of dressy fucking casual. And he honestly didn't give a shit if Lavi didn't like what he was wearing – the idiot should be grateful enough that he was even going to this shitfest. Seriously, that brat of a Moyashi had no idea how lucky he was that he had to work tonight.

The last finishing touches having been put on his hair, he walked into the kitchen, grabbing his black coat, keys and cell phone. As he grabbed the last item, he paused to look at it briefly. He hadn't really thought about why he'd given the kid his phone number; it wasn't like he sincerely wanted to get the brat's life story. There had just been something…some impulse that had made him want to give the kid his phone number. He couldn't explain it. Still, it wasn't like Allen had called him yet, so he wasn't too bothered by it.

Sticking the device in his pocket, he crossed the remaining distance to the door of his apartment and left. He took the elevator down to the parking garage, a frown on his face as he contemplated the easiest way to get out of the party without Lavi noticing. Lavi was a very social creature. At parties, he tended to hang out in the areas where the most people gathered – like the dance floor and the tables of food. Those were Kanda's main areas to avoid. Corners were unfortunately out of the question as well because that was the first place anybody would like to find him. Therefore, he would have to – dare he think it – _mingle. _He would have to _associate_ with the rest of the people at the party, heaven forbid.

As he climbed fluidly into his car, shut the door and began to drive off to Lavi's apartment, he tried to think of the best way to handle things. There was no feasible way that he could avoid talking to everyone. It was just impossible. But there had to be a way that he could avoid most people. All he had to do was figure it out.

When he pulled up to the parking lot beside Lavi's apartment building, he still hadn't come to a conclusion. Getting out of his car, he locked the door and put his keys in his pocket before heading up the steps to the lobby. Judging from the flashing lights coming from one of the rooms upstairs, he thought he had a pretty good idea of where the party was. He still couldn't believe he was actually doing this. It went against all common sense.

After a few moments of elevators and hallways, he found himself standing before a simple, white door with a brass number 13 on it. He could hear the music coming from inside the room; it was obnoxious. There was just no other way to put it. He tried the handle; it was unlocked, to his relief. He stepped inside and immediately had to force himself to go further into the room. It was that bad.

There were gaudy, sparkling garlands – of all colors; there was no recognizable color scheme – hanging from every free surface. Several trees, of varying sizes – and once again, colors – were placed in random corners. Fake snow littered the tables where the food was. Overly loud, hip-hopped-tricked-out versions of the butchered Christmas classics were playing from a stereo somewhere. There were about fifty people there right now, but considering the size of Lavi's apartment, that was quite a bit. The room smelled horrible – it was a mixture of the fake holiday "spice" potpourri that they sold in bulk at stores and the sweat of dancing humans. It almost made him want to gag.

He quickly moved over to the side, trying to avoid being seen. "Kanda!" He cursed; obviously his plan was short-lived. He turned around to see Lenalee Lee standing there, dressed in a short black dress that showed off her legs and knee-high, skin-tight black leather boots. Honestly, could Lavi never pick modest girls? She stepped closer to him, an endearing smile on her face. "I didn't know you were coming tonight."

"Che, it wasn't like I had a choice," he muttered. "The stupid rabbit would've just forced me to come anyways."

"Probably," she allowed. "Does Lavi know you're here?"

"I hope not."

"He doesn't?" she asked, surprised. "But you're best friends…or at least, you're _his _best friend. I'm not sure the feeling's mutual." She snickered a bit. "Maybe I should tell him you're here. He'll be so glad to see you!"

His eyes flashed as he glared at her. "Don't even think about it," he warned. "If you do, I will personally murder you."

She giggled then, as if he'd just made a very funny joke. "No, you won't," she said, calling his bluff. "You know my brother. I don't think you're willing to pay the consequences of murdering me." Darn. He hated it when other people were right. That made him wrong.

"I will still make your life very unpleasant," he threatened.

"Oh, really?" she asked, appearing interested now. Dammit, she was fucking toying with him! What an evil girl Lavi had chosen this time. Normally he chose bimbos that he could run circles around. Why did he have to choose an intelligent girl this time? "And what do you plan on doing?"

He glared at her intensely. "I'll find something."

"Oh, how ominous," she snorted, smirking at him. "But come on!" She hooked an arm around his elbow and began to drag him away. "I'm sure Lavi wants to see you!"

"I'm sure he does," Kanda muttered under his breath. He let himself be dragged across the room. It wasn't as if he could think up any way to get himself out of it. Besides, now Lavi would know that he had indeed come to this stupid party and wouldn't bug him about it. The only bad thing was…well, he had to go talk to Lavi face-to-face. And that was always a painful experience.

Lenalee led him into the kitchen. There weren't very many people here at all – just a few refilling their drinks or talking to Lavi, who was standing by a punch bowl pouring something that looked like rum into the noxiously pink punch. He looked up when Lenalee stopped right before him. "Lenalee!" he said, immediately stashing the bottle of alcohol under the table. Kanda wondered who the idiot red-head thought he was kidding – everyone had to have seen that stunt. "Whatcha doing?" His gaze moved from his girlfriend to Kanda. "Yu-chan!" he said happily, springing forward.

Kanda stepped out of the way at the last moment, letting the idiot fall forwards into a table. "Don't do that," he grunted irritably. "You're going to hurt someone."

"Hurt someone?" Lavi asked, clutching his side painfully. "What about me? What happens if I hurt myself?"

Kanda looked at him flatly. "No one cares if you get hurt," he said.

"Oh, that's so mean!" Lavi pouted. He looked to Lenalee. "Lenalee, do you care if I get hurt?"

She smiled and went over to wrap an arm around his waist. "Of course I care if you get hurt!" she said. "But Kanda's right, you know; you shouldn't just go jump at people. A hello would be just fine."

"More than fine," Kanda piped up.

"Oh, be quiet, you," Lenalee snapped. She pulled Lavi up and straightened out his slightly mussed shirt before running her fingers through his messy hair. "Honestly, Lavi, you look like a mess. Have you never heard of a comb?" She sighed and smiled at him fondly.

"Hey," Lavi protested, grabbing her arms so that her hands were out of his hair. "As good as that feels – and it feels pretty damn good – it took me hours to get my hair to look like this."

Kanda rolled his eyes. He hated seeing lovey-dovey couples like this. He didn't really care that the two idiots were together; they deserved each other, in his opinion. Lavi needed a mom and Lenalee needed someone to carry her shopping bags. Besides, if they were together, that was less time that Lavi spent trying to get him to do things. And in Kanda's opinion, anything that made the rabbit forget about him was a very, very good thing.

"Hey, Kanda."

Kanda looked up, drawing himself out of his thoughts, when he heard Lenalee say his name. Lavi now had his arm around the girl's shoulders, and she had her arm around his waist. She was staring at him speculatively. "What?" he asked.

"I was meaning to ask you this earlier, but I forgot," she said. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Lavi snorted; Kanda glared at him. "Yu-chan doesn't have girlfriends," the red-head continued nonchalantly, ignoring Kanda's gaze. "He's too mean! He scares all the girls away! Though to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he was gay. I mean, look at all that hair! And he's always got such a bitchy attitude. Doesn't he seem like a girl?"

"If you want to remain in one piece for the remainder of the night, I would suggest you be quiet," Lenalee advised, observing the murderous look on Kanda's face. "And besides, I wanted him to answer the question, not you. So, Kanda?"

"No, I don't have a girlfriend," he said through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at the red-head, who had just now noticed the malevolent aura pouring off his so-called "best friend". "And I am _not_ gay."

"Of course, Yu-chan," Lavi said quickly. "I mean, of course you're not gay! You're practically just oozing manliness! And you don't have to have a girlfriend to not be gay! Of course not! You're as not gay as playing tiddlywinks with manhole covers! You play jacks with concrete blocks! You-"

"Oh, be quiet, Lavi," Lenalee said, smiling in amusement. She laughed. "Honestly, where do you come up with all of this stuff?"

"What can I say? It just came," the red-head said, puffing his chest out a bit.

"That's what she said," Lenalee joked.

Lavi looked at her, as if astonished that she could possibly say something that implied something perverted. "Where have you been all my life?" he demanded, throwing his hands out to the side.

She flushed a bit. "About two miles to the south," she replied.

Kanda rolled his eyes. Yeah. These two idiots totally deserved each other.

* * *

"Hey, Alanna, can you get the phone for me?"

Allen looked up to see the blonde hostess attempting to control the very crowded waiting room. She was handing out menus and pointing out the free tables to the waitresses as fast as she could. But hey, this was a Friday night and it was getting close to Christmas. This was one of the busiest times of the year. All the men were going out with their buddies to buy themselves – err, their _wives, _presents. And of course every woman was going to look for a gift in the hardware department at Sears. Yeah. Definitely.

"Sure!" he said, smiling at the waitress and stepping around her to pick up the phone. "Hello, how can I help you?" he asked sweetly. He put his hand over his other ear so that he could hear better.

"Allen!"

"…Lavi? Is that you?" Allen asked.

"Chyeah, it's me!" Lavi said emphatically. "What's up with you?"

"Um, I'm working," Allen replied slowly. "Did you need something? We're really busy at the moment."

"Nope! I just wanted to say hi!"

"…Hi," Allen said.

"And Lenalee says hi too! Here, say hello, Lenalee!" There was a crackling noise, as if the phone was being passed around.

"Hi, Allen!"

"Hello, Lenalee," Allen said, unable to help the smile that drifted across his face. Sometimes he wondered how he'd managed to get such cracked-up friends. But he loved them. He didn't even want to think about where he'd be without them.

"I feel really bad for leaving you alone to work tonight!" Lenalee gushed. "I wish you didn't have to work all the time!"

"Well, you know," Allen said, shrugging a bit. "I have to pay the bills."

"But you're the manager! Doesn't that count for something?"

"The manager has to work an equal amount as everyone else," Allen informed her dutifully. "Even more so, since people assume we get off easy. If anything, I have to work more than everyone else."

"I know," she said. He could see her pouting a little bit. "But it's still not fair. You work so hard! You're going to give yourself an ulcer!"

"Aren't those stress-related?" Allen asked, frowning. "I'm not stressed out…"

He heard a laugh from somewhere beside the phone and assumed Lavi must've put him on speaker phone. Great. Just what he needed – lots of strangers to listen in on his private conversations. "Allen, you're more stressed out than a teenage girl going on her first date who woke up with a huge zit on her chin to find out she'd just started her period!"

"Oh, geez, Lavi, really?" Allen said, wincing. Did he mention that his friends had no qualms about being forward? Nope, they were all blunt as hammers. No beating around the bush for them!

There was a giggle on the other end. "He means well, Allen," Lenalee said.

"I know, but still," Allen said. He sighed. "Was there anything else? I really have to get back to work now."

"Oh, yeah!" Lavi piped up. "Kanda says hi!"

"No, I don't," a vicious voice grunted.

"Kanda?" Allen repeated, surprised. "Kanda came to your party?"

"Yup!"

"And you didn't blackmail him?" Allen asked suspiciously. He wouldn't have put it past the red-head.

"Allen!" Lavi exclaimed, sounding quite offended. "I would never blackmail someone! I'm practically a saint!"

"Che, right," Kanda sneered. "And Lenalee is secretly a dominatrix for XXX and I'm the pope." Lavi made another offended noise, but it seemed as though Kanda had taken control of the situation. "Listen, Moyashi, yes, I'm at this god-forsaken party. Deal with it. Lavi called to cheer you up because you aren't here. Consider yourself lucky you aren't here. Now, good-bye."

Allen pulled the phone away from his ear, smiling at Kanda's brusque handling of the situation. He hung the phone back up on the wall. He was secretly pleased that Lavi had wanted to…well, he supposed the red-head had wanted him to know that they wished he could've been there? Yeah, he would go with that.

"Who was that?" the hostess asked when she got a free moment.

"Just a friend," Allen said, smiling.

* * *

"Alright, so who's up for a round of truth or dare?!"

Kanda rolled his eyes as the rest of the small group cheered enthusiastically. It was getting close to one in the morning. He had attempted to get away several times now, but every time he would get close, Lenalee would find him and drag him back. He was really beginning to dislike her. It was too bad that he couldn't do anything to her because she was A) a girl and B) Komui Lee's sister. And now most of the people had gone home, so he really didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to leave yet.

"Oh, buck up, Kanda, you look like your cat just died," Daisya said, laughing. "It's just a game."

"I hate cats," Kanda informed him sharply.

"No shit," his adoptive brother said, rolling his eyes. Kanda stared in disgust at the idiot. Sure enough, not even a week since Kanda had seen him last and the clown's hair had been dyed a noxious shade of purple. It matched the stupid little marks under his eyes. Kanda wasn't sure if those were tattoos or make-up. They'd appeared one day on the bastard's face and had never come off. He really didn't care. "But come on, it's just a game."

"I'm not playing truth or dare," Kanda said firmly.

"But Yu-chan!" Lavi protested. "You have to! It's going to be so much fun!"

Kanda's eyes flashed. "I have to?" he repeated icily. "I wasn't aware that I have to do anything."

"You have to pay taxes," Marie pointed out practically.

"Shut the fuck up," Kanda snapped.

"Oh, don't be such a tight-ass, " Daisya said, sniggering. "Honestly, do you always have a stick up your ass? Oh, that's right. It's not a stick. It's just that stupid sword that you always carry around."

Quicker than lightning, Kanda picked up the glass sitting on the table beside him and chucked it at the violet-haired freak's head. "Oy!" Daisya ducked and the glass flew over him to smash into the wall behind him. He looked up at Kanda, his eyes wide. "What the hell was that for?"

"Shut up or I'll do it again," Kanda said, looking away, bored. "And I won't miss next time."

"Jesus Christ," Daisya muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Can we just get on with the game now?" Lenalee asked.

"Yeah!" Lavi said, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's get started! Okay, who wants to go first?" No one volunteered. He shrugged. "Okay, then, I'll start! Hmmmm…" He looked around for his first victim. "Okay then, Marie, truth or dare?"

"…truth I suppose," Marie responded, looking over in Lavi's general direction.

"Where's the wildest place you've ever had sex?" Kanda rolled his eyes while Daisya burst out laughing. Marie seemed unfazed by the question, and actually seemed to be considering the question. Now that was interesting to Kanda. He wasn't aware that his other brother had ever had a girlfriend. When had he had time to have sex? He wasn't the type to just go pick up a random girl for a one-night stand.

"I would have to say in the glass elevator in the Human Resources Building downtown," Marie finally replied nonchalantly.

"Holy flying fuck, are you kidding me?" Daisya asked, his eyes about ready to pop out of their sockets. Marie nodded solemnly. "Shit, man…that's fucking awesome!" He held out his fist. "Pound it." Marie complied easily. Kanda found the whole thing mildly disturbing. Wasn't Marie supposed to be the responsible one here?

"Wow…that's just…wow," Lavi said, clearly impressed. "Okay then, Marie, it's your turn now!"

"Alright," the tall man said. He looked around, searching for the next victim. "Lenalee then, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said, smiling sweetly.

He thought about it for a moment, trying to think up something good for her to do. "I have it," he finally said, smiling deviously. "Call Komui on the phone and pretend that you've eloped with Lavi to the Bahamas to get married." Kanda couldn't believe what was happening. What the fuck was happening to everyone?! Was no one normal anymore, or was Lavi's spiked punch just too much to handle?

Lenalee flushed a bit, but pulled the landline phone off the table and put it in her lap. "I'll put it on speaker, so everyone be quiet," she said. She took a deep breath before picking up the receiver and dialing the number. She then pressed the button for speaker phone. The loud dial tone filled the air. A few seconds later, and Komui responded.

"Hello?"

"Brother!" Lenalee said happily. "Hi, it's me!"

"Lenalee?" Komui asked, sounding surprised. "What are you doing up so late? It's one in the morning!"

"I know, I know," Lenalee said. "But I…well I had something I wanted to tell you."

"…alright, what is it?"

"I hadn't planned on telling you, but now that I've actually done it, I don't think I can keep it a secret for much longer."

"…Lenalee, what's going on?" Komui was starting to sound panicked now. Daisya was fighting to keep his laughing quiet, while Lavi was smiling nervously – after all, it was his head on the line if Komui found them before they could explain that it was just a joke. Even Marie was smiling. Kanda thought it was all ridiculous.

"Brother…I'm in the Bahamas," Lenalee said, biting her lower lip.

"The Bahamas?!" Komui exclaimed. "What are you doing there? You know, if you'd wanted to take a vacation, you could have just told me! I could've taken off work!"

"Well, to tell you the truth, Brother…I'm not here because I wanted a vacation," Lenalee explained. A smile was creeping onto her face. It appeared to Kanda as if she were enjoying it. "Actually…Lavi and I are here together. We…we're married now!"

There was silence for about ten seconds. And then…

"WHAT?!" Komui screeched. "You're MARRIED?! To LAVI?! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!? AND WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?!? LENALEE?!? YOU'RE BEING SO MEAN TO ME!!!!!"

"Sorry, Brother!" Lenalee quickly hung up the phone without further explanation to keep herself from bursting out laughing and ruining the joke. As it was, as soon as the phone hit the carrier, she fell over into Lavi, laughing so hard it half-sounded like she was choking. It took her almost five whole minutes to get herself under control again. "Oh, he's going to kill me!"

"You?!" Lavi asked incredulously. "He's going to kill _me!!_"

"Good riddance," Kanda muttered.

"Hey, I heard that, Yu-chan!" Lavi pouted. He pointed a finger at Kanda. "You haven't done anything yet! Lenalee, make him do something! It's your turn next!"

"Do you really think he'll participate?" Lenalee asked speculatively, looking over at Kanda.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Kanda asked scathingly. "Because I really hope you aren't so stupid that you can't figure that one out."

"Kanda, truth or dare?" Lenalee ventured.

"I'm not playing," Kanda said slowly, enunciating each word with icy precision. "How much fucking clearer can I make it for you?"

"You are too going to play!" Lavi exclaimed.

"Or what?"

"Or…or we'll never leave you alone!" Lavi said, grinning.

Kanda weighed his options. On one hand, he really didn't want to play this game. It was stupid, childish and they would probably either ask him something he wouldn't divulge or make him do something incredibly stupid. But if he didn't play, Lavi was threatening to never shut up. That would be incredibly inconvenient. But maybe he could use this to his own advantage… "Dare."

Lenalee looked surprised to see that he'd actually agreed, but shrugged it off and continued. "Okay then…" she paused, putting a finger to her lips as she thought of something. "I want you to go and change the answers on the final exams at the university so that they're all the same letter on the multiple choice!"

The room was silent for a moment. Then Lavi and Daisya burst out laughing. "I can't wait until you get caught!" Daisya crowed. Kanda glared at him, but stood up anyways and walked out. But just as he was about the close the door behind him, Lenalee spoke up.

"Oh, and Kanda!" she said cheerily. "I'll know if you don't do it because next week is exam week!" He rolled his eyes. "And don't forget to come back, or we'll have to come get you!" With that, he slammed the door shut and started to walk down the hall.

Honestly, he was dealing with such simpletons. Did they really think this was a big deal to him? He stuck his hands in his pockets as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. It was so easy. After another few moments, he stepped out into the lobby and walked towards the front door. It was now snowing outside and bitterly cold, but he didn't care. He was finally out of that hellhole.

After reaching his car, he sat down and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. He immediately turned on the heat and decided to sit there for a moment until he could feel his hands again. Now, what was he to do? While the dare would present no problem to him whatsoever, he was fully aware of the fact that Lavi and Lenalee would easily try to retrieve him for more of their stupid truth or dare game. He had to go somewhere that they wouldn't think he'd go.

Now that the car was decently warm, he started it up and sped back to his apartment. He left the car on the first floor of the garage and then got out. He wasn't going to drive to the place he'd decided to go. He smirked. They would _never _suspect this place. Wasn't he brilliant?

* * *

Allen sighed as he finally unlocked the door to his small flat. He was so exhausted. It was almost two in the morning. He'd been kept late at the restaurant because there had been an emergency shortage of hot wings. He'd had to make several purchases online and then have them overnight-shipped in order to be there by tomorrow. He hadn't planned on running out of hot wings, but hey, the people here liked their chicken.

It was freezing in his living room. He must've left a window open on accident. Shivering, he flipped on a light switch, leaving his shoes by the door. Well, none of the windows in here were open. He moved into the kitchen, checking the phone to see if he had any messages. Then he sorted through the mail he'd picked up on his way in. Let's see…bills…bills…another bill…some random advertisement for a new lingerie store…and another bill. He threw the mail down on the counter glumly. Well, there went tonight's paycheck. Honestly, if this kept up, maybe he would develop an ulcer or two.

He turned the lights off as he headed to the back bedroom, fully intending on going to sleep and not waking up until he had to go to work at seven. He shrugged off his jacket, exposing his arms to the cold air. Even though it was freezing, he always had to wear a t-shirt while he was sleeping. He couldn't help it. Anything more and he just got too hot. He flipped on the light and looked around until he found the pair of pajama bottoms he was looking for. He grabbed them off the floor and then turned around, heading for the bed.

The only problem was…there was already someone in it.

* * *

**Ooh, shocker, I wonder who that could be?!? Not. So yes, the chapter was shorter than intended, but the next update will seriously be like...Wednesday at the latest. So it won't be too long to wait. And next chapter is more Allen/Kanda interaction!! Woot!!**

**Also, I wanted to explain Lenalee here. Even though in the manga/anime, she's portrayed as being really sweet and innocent, I don't think she'd really be all stupid and naive like some people make her out to be. She's intelligent and she has to be somewhat mischievous. I mean, come on, look at her brother. So if she seems a little OOC here, it's because I want her to be like that. I think she's more likeable when she's not a saint. But that's just my stance.**

**Don't forget to review!!  
**


	8. All Nereids Beware

**So, I promised I would update soon, and I don't break my promises!! Well, I try not to, at least. Sometimes, I slip up :S **

**Anyways, here's what is basically the second part of chapter seven. All together, the two chapters are about ten thousand words. This part is slightly shorter than the other, but I think more happens...if that makes sense. At least, I know that more of the plot develops in this part than the other. But of course, it might not seem that way to anyone else because I'm the writer and I know what happens next!! Well, technically, my best friend does too...but she won't tell. Or else. Haha, you know who you are, DA!! **

**Without further blathering on, then, here's part two of chapter seven!!**

**Thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!  
**

* * *

Allen blinked.

"KANDA?!"

"Che, be quiet, brat," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. He looked quite relaxed, leaning back against the headboard of Allen's small bed, arms and ankles crossed. He was dressed in nice clothes, Allen noted absently. Oh, that was right. He had been at Lavi's party. But that still didn't explain what the heck he was doing here! "No need to get all bent out of shape."

"Wha…what are you talking about?!" Allen shrieked. "What the hell are you doing here? And how the hell did you get into my apartment?! This is breaking and entering, you know!"

"Good grief, shut up," Kanda snapped. "You almost complain more than Lavi." He rolled his eyes again. "As for your question, you left the fucking window open. Honestly, dumbass, aren't you worried about thieves?" He shook his head. "Pathetic."

"You still didn't tell me why you're here," Allen said, moving forward to hastily snap the still open window shut. No wonder it was so cold in here. He mentally scolded himself for not shutting the window. He would leave it up sometimes when the room got stuffy, but he was always forgetting to close it. Darn his bad memory!

"I have to get away from the idiot rabbit," Kanda said, shrugging. "I had to go somewhere where he wouldn't look for me."

"So you came and broke into my apartment?" Allen asked, irritated, turning to face Kanda with his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't really appreciate that, you know."

"Che, I really don't give a fuck as to what you do and don't appreciate," Kanda informed him. He paused just then, staring down at Allen's chest. He frowned, his dark blue eyes studying. Allen frowned, wondering what the other was staring at. He looked down at his chest. There wasn't anything on his shirt…was there? No…no stains…then what could it… He felt his breath hitch in his throat when he figured out that it wasn't his chest Kanda was staring at – it was his arm. He'd taken off his jacket and was only wearing a t-shirt underneath.

He quickly took a few steps back, moving his arm to hide it behind his back. Kanda raised an eyebrow at his antics and moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is that why you always wear long sleeves and gloves?" he asked quietly.

Allen flushed, and nodded.

"Che," was Kanda's only response. "Idiot."

Now that pissed Allen off. Who did this bastard think he was?! First, he broke into his apartment, and now he was passing off such a huge blemish as if it were an errant freckle?! "Idiot?" he repeated. "You don't know anything about me! Do you realize how much pain this stupid arm has caused me? And you just pass it off like it's nothing?! Who do you think you are?"

Kanda stood up then and walked over to him. Allen backed up, seeing the obvious glint of cold steel in the other's eyes. But Kanda followed him until Allen couldn't move anywhere. He stuck his hands out to either side of Allen's head and leaned down.

"Who the fuck do I think I am?" he asked, his voice cold. "I know who the fuck I am. I don't pretend to be something I'm not. I don't know anything about you? Well, fuck-a-doodle-doo, punk, it's not like you've offered anything up." He was openly glaring now. Allen was absently surprised that he hadn't been punched yet. "And your arm? It _is_ nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Who cares if you've got a weird arm? Everyone has some kind of flaw."

"Flaw?" Allen asked, laughing bitterly. "I wouldn't call it a flaw."

"Bullshit," Kanda snapped. "You do think it's a flaw, or else you wouldn't try so hard to hide it." He stepped away then, looking towards the window.

Allen watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say something else. But when the dark-haired man offered nothing else, he decided to speak instead. "I only hide it because everyone else seems so repulsed by it," he admitted quietly. "I…I didn't ask for it to happen. It's not even my fault."

"If the people you spend your time with are that willing to judge you based only on your physical appearance, then what the fuck are you doing with them?" Kanda asked, turning his gaze back to Allen. "Even I know better than that."

"You?" Allen repeated, snorting. He shook his head. "You don't care what people think about you."

Kanda shrugged and went back to sit on the bed. "So what happened?" he asked.

Allen absently drew his deformed, red arm in towards his chest, as if doing so would make it seem less appalling. "It's something having to do with my metabolism," he explained quietly, moving slowly to sit at the other end of the bed, as far away from Kanda as possible.

"Che, figures," Kanda snorted. "I told you it wasn't normal for any ordinary human being to eat the way you do."

"It's not my fault," Allen persisted. "How many times do I have to say that for it to stick in your head?" He shook his head. "And I thought that I had memory problems." He sighed. "Apparently, my metabolism is way too high. It's off the charts. I have to eat that much in order to survive because my body uses the energy too quickly. For some reason, it made this happen." He moved his arm a bit. "There's nothing really _wrong _with it. It's just…ugly…"

"Oh, goddammit, Moyashi, don't throw a fucking pity party," Kanda snapped grumpily. "It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal!" Allen disagreed. He glared at Kanda. "You don't know what it's like!" He shook his head. "Why am I even arguing with you? I could make more headway with a fencepost. It would sure be a whole lot more understanding."

"What is there to understand?" Kanda retorted. "Why do you care so much about what people think? All humans are idiots." He leaned back then, in a pose that was much too comfortable looking, considering he wasn't in his own home.

"I think you just insulted yourself, Kanda," Allen informed him, smirking a bit.

"I never said I was human," Kanda shot back.

"Oh, really?" Allen asked, lifting his eyebrows. His face took on a look of surprise. "Oh, I see it now! I don't know how I didn't recognize it before! So are you a mountain troll or one of the hill variety?"

"Shut the fuck up," Kanda snarled. "Don't you ever know when to quit?"

"It's my house," Allen pointed out. "I can say whatever the hell I want." Kanda glared at him, but didn't say anything else. Allen stood up then, grabbing his now wrinkled pajama bottoms. "I'm going to change."

"Che, like I care," Kanda said, looking away. Allen rolled his eyes as he moved out of the bedroom and into the very tight bathroom. He barely had enough room to change without hitting his head on the chipped porcelain sink or the stained toilet that was beyond all redemption. He didn't care what the labels on those Magic Erasers said – this toilet was _not _going to get clean. He didn't even want to think about the abuse the previous owners had to have put it through.

He took his own sweet time changing, not really wanting to go back into his bedroom to argue with Kanda. He wondered absently when the other was going to leave. If he thought he was spending the night here, he was sorely mistaken. There was only so much Allen could allow before a certain line was crossed. But after nearly five minutes of loitering around cleaning up the medicine cabinet – which really only contained a bottle of toothpaste, his toothbrush and a few bottles of Advil and Tylenol – he figured he had to go back.

To his surprise, Kanda was staring at his keyboard, frowning slightly. His eyes flicked to Allen when he reentered the room, but then moved back to the musical instrument. He absently put his dirty pants in a basket by the door. What was so great about a keyboard anyway? Surely Kanda had seen one before…

"You play the piano?"

Allen looked over at Kanda. The dark-haired man still wasn't looking at him, but his words hung in the air, demanding an answer. "Yes."

"Are you any good?"

Allen blinked. "Well, that's subjective, isn't it?" Kanda didn't respond. Allen moved into the room a few more steps. "Do you want me to play something?"

"I don't care," Kanda said dismissively, tearing his gaze away. "Do whatever the hell you want."

Allen let a small smile creep onto his face. Believe it or not, he liked Kanda better this way. He was better when he acted bored and completely apathetic than when he was being an ass. He was…almost tolerable. Based on Kanda's words, he figured that the other really did want him to play something, but he definitely wasn't going to ask. Shaking his head, Allen moved over to the keyboard and sat himself down. He thought about what song he should play for a moment.

There was one song that he always loved playing, but he wasn't sure if Kanda would like it. It was, after all, considered more of a romantic song, and the day Kanda did something romantic was the day Allen shaved his eyebrows off. It just wasn't conceivable. Still…it was easy to play, yet irrevocably beautiful. And he knew it by heart.

Putting his fingers on the keys, he began to play, slowly, letting each note hang in the air a bit longer than was necessary. He preferred to take this piece a little bit slower than the piece called for. It made it that much more poignant. He could feel Kanda's eyes on him, but he didn't look up. That might make it look he was playing the song _for _Kanda, instead of just showing off that he could play.

The piece was only about five minutes long, but Allen felt like it lasted much longer than that. When he let the final notes drift away, he looked up at Kanda to see a surprising expression on the other's face. It wasn't…shocked. No, seeing Kanda shocked was even less probable than Allen winning the lottery. The look was more like…it was more like…pensive, maybe? It was definitely something he hadn't expected to see on the other's face. "What?" he asked.

Kanda tore his gaze away, looking off distractedly. "Kanda?" Allen prompted, tilting his head slightly sideways in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"…my mother loved that song," he said quietly. Allen had to strain to hear it; it was so soft, he wasn't sure whether or not Kanda had actually spoken or if he'd just imagined it. He stood up then, moving back to sit on the bed – still a healthy distance away from Kanda.

"I thought your parents lived in Japan," Allen said quietly.

"Of course they did, retard," Kanda snapped; the words may have been stinging, but the tone held no bite. "That doesn't mean shit. They do have pianos in Japan, you know." He rolled his eyes. "What's it called?"

"You don't know?" Allen asked, puzzled.

"If I knew, why the fuck would I be asking?" Kanda said heatedly. "No, I don't know what it's called. She never told me its name…"

"It's Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata," Allen said softly. Kanda nodded tersely, and then fell silent. "Did she play the piano?" Allen asked softly, after a few moments of silence passed.

Kanda didn't answer for a few moments. He stared absently at the floor, as if he were thinking of something very far back in his past. It was then that Allen realized he didn't even know how old Kanda was. He couldn't be much older than himself, though, if he was still in college. And yet he seemed so much older than that.

"Yes," the dark-haired man finally responded. "And that song was her favorite."

The silence that followed felt oppressive to Allen. He didn't like it. It was too sad…too reminiscent of the past. He hated the past. He could only look forward. That was all he could do, all he had been able to do for so long. He couldn't, wouldn't look back now. "Kanda, how old are you?"

Kanda looked over at him, a confused look on his face. "What?"

"You heard me," Allen said, sighing, "or is your hearing so bad that I need to go buy you a hearing aid?"

"Che, like you could afford it," Kanda snorted. Allen scowled at him, but couldn't say anything else since he knew it was true. "Twenty-two. Why?"

Allen shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "It's just…well, we've spoken a bit before, but I never knew how old you were."

"Why would you want to know how old I am?" Kanda asked. "That's creepy, Moyashi. What are you, a stalker?"

"Wha-? No!" Allen said vehemently. "Who would stalk you?"

"You'd be surprised," Kanda snorted.

"Seriously, you have the personality of a wet mop," Allen said, scrunching his nose in distaste. "And you're always scowling. You would look so much better if you weren't always frowning. Didn't anyone ever tell you that frowning gives you wrinkles?"

Kanda looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "That was only slightly gay, Moyashi," he said.

"What?" Allen asked, looking over at him. "Oh, for Pete's sake, I didn't mean it like that!" He shuddered. "I don't like you that way, Kanda. Good heavens."

"So you are gay then." Kanda didn't inflect it like it was a question.

"Actually, I don't know," Allen said slowly.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know?" Kanda asked.

"Well…" Allen flushed a bit, slightly embarrassed that he was talking about romance with Kanda, of all people. It just…it was just weird. "I've never really liked anyone that way. I've just never felt romantically attracted to anyone, so I wouldn't know."

"You've never had sex?" Kanda asked flatly.

"…no," Allen admitted. He looked up to see Kanda's absolutely floored expression. Well, miracles do happen – Kanda _could _show an emotion. Maybe he _should _go buy a lottery ticket. The only thing missing from the expression was the mouth hanging open. But he supposed that was asking too much – as it was, the really wide eyes were kind of freaking him out. Bug eyes did not suit Kanda's angular face. "What?" he asked defensively. "It's not like you have either."

Kanda snorted. "And how the hell would you know that?"

"Seriously, who would ever want to have sex with you?" Allen asked. "It'd be like having sex with a robot."

"Says the bottle of extra virgin olive oil," Kanda said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, this entire conversation is just getting awkward," Allen said.

"You started it," Kanda pointed out.

"Well, now I'm ending it."

* * *

Lenalee slowly picked up the Hershey kiss she was playing with and inspected it. It had a bright red wrapper – for Christmas, of course – and was still in mint condition. There were no flaws on it whatsoever. She held it up to eye level, stared at it for another moment or so, and then let it drop down into her lap with a sigh. Man, she was bored.

It had been at least an hour or so since Kanda had left. Somehow, she didn't think he was coming back. For one thing, Lavi basically lived five minutes away from the university, and the main office complex was the closest building. The entire dare shouldn't have taken more than thirty minutes, considering Kanda was incredibly mechanical and efficient about everything that he did. Or at least, that was what Lavi had told her.

She looked up. Daisya had fallen asleep in his chair, his mouth hanging open stupidly. Marie had picked up a book off a nearby table and was quietly reading. They had continued the game of truth or dare for a few more rounds after Kanda had left, but their tiredness had caught up with them by now. She was barely able to keep her eyes open, and Lavi was leaning against her shoulder, half-asleep.

"You know, I don't suppose Kanda is coming back," she said softly.

Marie looked up and smiled. "I would think not," he replied.

Lavi stirred against her side. "Mmmm, Lenalee?" he murmured. "Is Yu-chan back yet?"

"Lavi," Lenalee said, "I really don't think Kanda's coming back."

"Oh…how sad," Lavi yawned. He didn't say anything else.

Lenalee rolled her eyes fondly, shaking her head. "I wonder where he went," she said thoughtfully.

"Definitely not back to his apartment," Marie said, not even looking up from his book. She looked back over to him. "He probably thinks that you'll come after him. Naturally, he's gone to the spot you'd least suspect that he'd go to."

"Really," she said. "So where do you think we'll find him?"

Marie snorted. "With Kanda?" He shook his head. "You're not going to find him anytime soon."

She frowned. "Why not?" she asked. "From what I've heard, he's not terribly bright." Well, that might have been exaggerating things a bit. According to Lavi, he had decent grades. More than decent, towards the upper end of the scale. But judging from what she'd observed, he didn't seem to have a whole lot of out-of-the-box, creative thinking.

"Maybe he's not," Marie said, shrugging. "But you know, he's spent an awful lot of time avoiding people like Lavi."

"How long have they known each other?"

"Too long, in Kanda's opinion," Marie responded.

"And Kanda's always running away," Lenalee said, smiling faintly.

"Wouldn't you, if you were Kanda?" Marie asked, looking up at her with a grin.

She grinned back. "Probably."

* * *

Allen threw his head back on the bed. "When are you going to leave?" he demanded, throwing his hands over his face. It had been almost an hour since he'd come home to find Kanda on his bed, and the other still hadn't left yet. "I have to get some sleep."

"I'm not stopping you from sleeping," Kanda said stubbornly.

"You're lying on my bed!"

Kanda looked up at him, scowling. "Well, you don't have anything else to sit on," he snapped.

"That's not my fault," Allen reminded him. Geez, what was up with this guy? Did he have no tact? He never avoided a subject, despite the fact that most people knew what lines not to cross. Apparently, Kanda was just one big eraser. "But I have to get some sleep or I won't be able to function when I have to work tonight."

Kanda was quiet for a moment. Allen was so exhausted, he almost drifted off to sleep. Of course, he was rather rudely awakened when Kanda kicked his leg – a bit more viciously than was probably necessary. He shot up into a seated position. "Hey!" he said, glaring at the other. "What was that for?"

"Do you have a computer?" Kanda asked flatly, ignoring his question.

"What?" Allen asked, too tired to make any sense of the question.

"Do you fucking have a computer?" Kanda asked crossly.

"Yeah, I have a laptop," Allen said without thinking. "It's a bit outdated, but it-"

"Is it connected to the internet?" Kanda interrupted.

"Of course," Allen answered.

"Where is it?" Kanda asked, getting up off the bed.

Now that caught Allen's attention. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

"You want me off your bed so you can get your fucking beauty sleep?" Kanda demanded. "Let me use your fucking computer."

"What are you going to do?"

"Hack into the university's computer and change the answers to the final exams," Kanda replied nonchalantly. Allen blinked. Kanda had just said that so deadpan…did he have no brain capacity?!

"What?!" Allen asked.

"It was a dare," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "If I don't do it, Lavi and Lenalee will give me shit for the rest of my life. It'll only take me a half an hour, then I'll leave."

"Why do you have to use my computer?" Allen asked sullenly. "Just go home."

"Are you kidding me?" Kanda scoffed. "They'll probably be waiting for me at home. I said that I would leave, not that I would go home."

"Fine," Allen said, tired of arguing. He squinted up at Kanda. "Are you sure you can even do this?"

"I'm pretty damn sure," Kanda sneered.

"But what if you get caught?" Allen asked. "Won't they trace it back to my computer?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to get caught?" he asked. He bent down a bit. "Look, brat, I've done this hundreds of times. I'm not fucking getting caught."

Allen made a frustrated noise. At this point, he was so ready to go to sleep that he didn't even fucking care what Kanda did. He was tired of arguing, tired of talking and even tired of just keeping his eyes open. "Fine," he said resignedly. "Do what you want. I don't care. It's not like you'd listen to me even if I said no." Without another word, he rolled under his rather thin blankets and rolled over onto his side, facing the wall. "Just turn off the lights on your way into the kitchen. It's on the counter."

After about five minutes had passed, Kanda was still standing there and Allen was thoroughly frustrated. He rolled over, glaring up at Kanda, who was just staring at him speculatively, one eyebrow cocked. "What are you still doing here?" he demanded. "You wanted to use my computer. Go do it!"

"You know…when you play the piano…it's tolerable," Kanda said quietly. Allen couldn't even think of a response to that one. It was just so…random. But he didn't have time to think of anything else, because Kanda chose that moment to turn around and walk gracefully out of the room, flipping the light off behind him.

Allen stared at the doorframe for a few moments, not sure what to make of what had just happened. He could hear Kanda typing away on the keyboard in the other room. Slowly, he lay back down, staring at the ceiling for a few more moments before finally closing his eyes. He was too tired to think straight right now. He'd figure things out in the morning.

*****

Kanda quietly closed the laptop after it had shut down. It had taken a bit longer than he had expected. There were quite a few different exams for the university, it had turned out. But he was confident that he wouldn't get caught. He suspected that Lenalee had thought he'd just go and change the answers on the professors' answer grids. But no, he was so much smoother than that – he'd hacked into the network and changed the personal files. So much harder to track; after all, they'd probably all just assume that the professor's were idiots. Kanda did.

He looked over at the clock on Allen's rather old stove. It was close to three in the morning now. He figured that by now, Lenalee and Lavi were probably fast asleep and had forgotten about him. Besides, he'd done their stupid dare. They couldn't complain about anything. Standing up, moved on impulse to see if Allen was asleep. He just stopped at the doorframe, however; he didn't go all the way into the bedroom.

The light from the kitchen shone into the room. Allen was fast asleep. Kanda snorted when he realized that the brat slept like a little kid, all sprawled out on the mattress. One arm was thrown above his head and the legs were all askew. He pitied whoever happened to be the idiot's first bed partner. They would have to deal with Allen practically sleeping on top of them.

Heading back into the kitchen, he impulsively searched around for a scrap of paper and a pen. They weren't too hard to find. He scrawled a small note on the paper and then put it on the fridge with a lone magnet. After that, he threw the pen back on the table and started to leave. He was starting to get tired, not to mention this was really going to throw off his morning training session.

As he was walking home, he wondered to himself why he cared so much. This was the second time now that he'd gone out of his way to help the stupid little bean. He couldn't even say why. He still didn't particularly like the brat, and it wasn't like he felt sorry for him. No, it was far from that. He didn't really know how to express how he felt about Allen Walker. And for now, he didn't really care to find out.

* * *

Allen woke up with a start about five that afternoon. The sun was shining in from the window; it wasn't the harsh yellow of noon or the pale color that it was in the morning. Instead, it was that soft strange of orange that was much easier on the eyes. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes absently with a hand. He yawned once and then forced himself to get up. Ugh, he did not want to go to work today. He was still completely exhausted.

Walking into the kitchen, he immediately moved over to the fridge, hoping to find something edible for dinner. He was starving. Just as he was about to open the door, his eyes settled on something that he knew shouldn't have been there. He frowned when he saw the slanted, angular handwriting on the small piece of paper. Taking it down, he read it once.

_Oy, Moyashi,_

_I'm not a fucking brat like you. I know what I'm doing. So don't worry about getting caught. And about your arm. I know a guy who helps poor people with procedures they need done. I left you his address. Guy's name is Bak Chan. He and his team are fucking lunatics, but hey, you'll fit right in, won't you? Do me a favor – go see him so you can stop bitching about that arm. _

There was no name, but Allen hardly needed one to tell that it was from Kanda. He was vaguely surprised to realize that the man's writing patterns imitated his speech, but after thinking about it for a while, it did kind of fit. Underneath the small paragraph of speech was an address. He found himself snorting, but a small smile spread across his face shortly after. It was just so funny to him – Kanda pretended not to care at all, and yet this was the second nice thing the man had done for him in a short period of time.

He really should have been offended by Kanda's words, but he found that he couldn't bring himself to anger. He shook his head, setting the paper down on the counter. He didn't have time to go visit that clinic today, but he might get around to it tomorrow. As he set about fixing himself something to eat – and it would have to be very small for him, considering the amount of supplies he had in stock – he wondered why Kanda was being so nice to him.

Well, not really nice. He still treated Allen like a piece of a meat. He was rude and insufferable, not to mention a giant prick. He constantly scowled and glared, and had already given Allen several bruises. And yet…he listened. He didn't judge. Allen had a theory working. Kanda was like a big, Vidalia onion. He had tons of different layers, and most people only saw the scratchy, outer covering. On top of that, his outside character really stunk and turned off a lot of people. But if you went deep enough, you would find a half-decent human being.

Or at least, that was his theory.

* * *

**Okay, so I totally borrowed the onion theory from Shrek. Well, actually, I thought of it and then wrote it out; it was only afterwards that I realized Shrek used the same analogy, haha. But they came up with it first, so there you go. Haha, Kanda's an onion XD. **

**Oh, and that piece of music is real too. It's a very beautiful piece, one of my favorite classical pieces. It's weird that my two favorite genres of music are metal and classical...hmm. Anyways, the Moonlight Sonata was actually my grandma's favorite piece of music. I never met her (she died when my mom was like five), but my mom used to play me this song all the time, and she always said that my grandma loved it. Haha, she's even my namesake!! So that's where the little bit with Kanda came from. **

**So this story has almost got 200 reviews!! I would absolutely love it if this chapter pushed that number up there. Now I'm not one of those people who will set a minimum number of reviews and then refuse to update until she gets that much. But it would make me very happy to get 200 reviews by the end of this chapter!! So...don't forget to review!!  
**


	9. Sulfur

**Hello everyone!!**

**Sorry that it's been a while. Has it really been a while? I haven't checked yet, haha. But I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter!! You guys are awesome!! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten for one single chapter, and it makes me so happy. Of course, I'm easily satisfied. Seriously, I would be the one of the easiest people ever to date. You could take me to McDonald's and I'd be happy. That's kind of sad, isn't it, haha? But oh well. McDonald's rocks. On a side note, I just got new piercings last Monday!! But they hurt like hell...maybe that's why I didn't finish this earlier, haha. That was the first time I'd had something done with actual needles instead of the little guns. Needles hurt so much worse. And my ear crunched. It was a rather disgusting noise, haha. But it's worth it.  
**

**Thanks again for all the support!! You guys are awesome!!

* * *

**

"When do we get to blow something up?"

Tyki rolled his eyes at his niece. She was staring at him expectantly, absently licking a sickeningly pink lollipop. "Road, we don't always blow things up," he said with a sigh. "That's not exactly subtle."

"Who cares about subtle?" she asked, giggling at him like he'd just made a joke. "I wanna see something go BOOM!"

"If you want to see something go boom, why don't you just go get the Earl to buy you some fireworks?" Tyki asked tiredly.

"Fireworks are overrated," she said matter-of-factly. "Plus they get soot everywhere, and the smell afterwards is disgusting."

He blinked at her for a moment. "But the smell after blowing up a building is perfectly floral?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nah, it's more acrid," she said, waving a hand. "But it's much, much better." It was at that moment that she skipped back across the room, picking a book up off a shelf. He watched as she sat down in a chair, flipping the book open. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a cigarette lighter. She ripped a page out of the book, and then held it up to the lighter, setting it ablaze. She cackled with glee as the paper slowly disintegrated, and let go just as the flames were about to reach her hand, letting the ashes fall on the table below.

He shook his head. Why did he have to be related to a bunch of nutjobs? It must have been some product of inbreeding somewhere. But at least they didn't have blue skin or seven toes. He rather liked the way he looked, thank you very much.

His amber eyes flicked over to the door as it opened. A stunningly beautiful woman walked into the room, putting a hand on her hip. "Master wants to see you, Tyki," she said quietly. Putting a smile on his face, he stood up, walking over to her and giving a slight bow.

"What a pleasure to see you, Lulubell," he said charmingly, letting his eyes linger on her body before moving to her face. "Looking as beautiful as ever, I see."

She raised an eyebrow at him coolly. "Do you always think with your dick?" she asked skeptically. "Honestly, you're such a pervert." Without another word, she twirled around elegantly and walked back down the hall, her high heels clicking on the tile floor.

Tyki scowled at Road, who was now laughing at him. "Be quiet, Road," he snapped at her, embarrassed that she'd been there to hear that.

"Why?" the girl asked between giggles. "It's true!" She went back to her paper-burning then, though she still had a Cheshire-cat-like grin on her face. Tyki rolled his eyes and left the room, turning right down a poorly lit hallway. He kept walking until he got to a shiny wooden door with the number 13 as its only marker. He knocked on the door a few times before opening it and stepping inside cautiously. He needn't have worried though – the person behind the large wooden desk had their back turned to him anyways.

"My Lord Earl, you wanted to see me?" Tyki asked, shutting the door and moving into the room.

"Ah, Tyki, pet, I didn't think you'd come so quickly!" the Earl said in his strange, almost lilting voice. "You normally take your own sweet time when doing things."

Though the tone wasn't really accusatory, Tyki flushed anyways. The Earl had a way of being insulting without really ever saying anything nasty. He'd perfected it to an art form, really. "Well, it was either come here or fall victim to Road's pyromania," he said quietly, sitting down in the chair on the other side of the desk. The Earl spun around to face him, his grin widening.

"Isn't she darling?"

"Just precious," Tyki said flatly.

"Oh, don't be so jealous, Tyki!" the Earl said, his voice rising as his words went on. "You know you'll always be my favorite!"

"You say that to all of us," Tyki pointed out.

"That is what is known as immaterial," the Earl said, not missing a beat. "So, have you readied the facilities?"

"Yes, all the warehouses are standing by and awaiting shipment," Tyki said. "The security measures have all been implemented and the government doesn't suspect a thing."

"Good, good," the Earl said, nodding. "But what about Cross?" His face darkened a bit. "Have you heard any news of him?"

"He's in the area," Tyki said, "but Jasdero and David haven't found anything specific yet." Not that that was a big surprise – the two clowns were almost as useless as Skin Boric, and that was saying something. Talk about a guy who didn't use his brain.

"Well, I will speak to them about it," the Earl said. Tyki was glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of the Earl's anger for once; the man may not have looked intimidating now, but when he was riled up, not even Road would cross him, and her mental stability was questionable at best. "But there's one thing I want you to do, Tyki."

"What is it?"

"Call in operation 562A-X."

Tyki blinked. "_Now?_" he asked, raising an eyebrow. That was a big-ass move! "Are you sure…?"

"Of course I'm sure," the Earl said, his eyes flashing behind his tinted glasses. "If I wasn't sure, would I have told you to do that?"

"Well, no, probably not," Tyki said.

"Good. And do not talk about this to anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly."

* * *

Allen sighed and slumped with relief into the chair in the breakroom. He was so exhausted. It was only a few days now until Christmas and the holiday rush at the restaurants were getting even worse. They had almost run out of gift cards to give to people who were too lazy to go out and actually purchase something thoughtful. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, either. He could tell that there were dark circles under his eyes and he had lost a couple of pounds or so just because of not having enough time to go grocery shopping.

Lenalee slumped down into the chair across from him, laying her head on the table. "It's so busy tonight," she complained. "I've never seen this place so crowded before! This has to be a fire hazard, not to mention a building code violation."

"Well, at least we still get a break," Allen said, trying his best to stay positive. And that was hard to do when you had to go and serve horny middle-aged men who thought it was cute to try and grope you as you walked away. He felt like smacking them, but that wasn't very good business. It was just so embarrassing; but all of the waitresses had to put up with it. It was almost worse for him, though, just because he was a guy.

"That's true," she said, lifting her head up off the table. She sighed. "So what are you doing for Christmas this year?" He gave her a blank look. "You could always come and celebrate with me and my brother! He'd be happy to have you, Allen!" That was true enough: he seemed to be the only guy Komui could stand to let be in the same room with Lenalee without supervision. Lavi was only granted that privilege because Lenalee had threatened her brother, telling him not to interfere.

"Lenalee, I can't," Allen said quietly.

"You say that every year," she pointed out.

"I have to work," he persisted.

"On Christmas?" she said skeptically. "Most businesses are closed on Christmas Day, Allen. And it's one day out of the year! Surely missing one day out of three hundred and sixty-five isn't going to hurt you."

"Every little bit helps," Allen said stubbornly.

"Do you not want to come over for Christmas?" she asked after a moment of staring at him speculatively.

"What?" he asked, surprised. "Of course not!" He sighed. "I would love to come over for Christmas dinner, Lenalee, but I really can't afford to. Besides, Christmas is a time to spend with your family, or your lover. It just…it wouldn't feel right."

"Allen, you _are_ practically a little brother to me," Lenalee said kindly.

"I would be intruding," Allen said, refusing to lose this argument.

Her smile faded as she semi-scowled at him, but he refused to give in. He wasn't going to let himself be manipulated into going to an awkward Christmas dinner with the Lee's. It really wasn't that he didn't want to go. He would love to spend Christmas with people! But he couldn't. That would be imposing on people. And besides…it would be strange. The Lee's were very nice, and it was true that Lenalee was like a sister to him. But they weren't his family. And they never could be.

"Fine," she said, pouting a bit. "Be that way. But I'll get you next year, Allen! Just you wait and see." He smiled at her, but said nothing. For a minute or so, they didn't say anything else. They simply sat and enjoyed their break, absently listening to the news report playing on the TV. It was about some theft at a bank downtown. Allen was just about to pay it serious attention – it wasn't far from where he lived – when Lenalee spoke up. "I wonder what Lavi got me for Christmas," she mumbled.

"Knowing Lavi, it's probably something extravagant," Allen said, quirking up a smirk.

"He does tend to go all-out, doesn't he?"

"That's a serious understatement," he agreed.

"Speaking of presents, why don't you ever let me buy you anything for Christmas?"

His eyes flashed warily as he stared at her, thinking up a good response. "I can't give you one back," he said. It was true that he didn't let his friends give him presents – the whole part of the tradition was that you gave gifts to your friends, who in turn gave you gifts. Since he couldn't give any return gifts, it was only natural that he shouldn't receive any either. "It wouldn't be fair."

"Allen, you don't always have to give a gift to get one," Lenalee pointed out. "And you never get any presents! It's better to give than to receive, you know."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You know, that statement could defend both our arguments," he pointed out, smiling.

"Allen," Lenalee said, scowling at him, "I'm going to give you two choices here. You can either come to Christmas dinner with me, my brother, Lavi and his grandfather, or you can accept a gift from me. I'll even do you a favor and make it myself so that you don't feel guilty for costing me money. But either way, you are going to get _something _come this Friday!" She nodded her head once, firmly, as to reassure herself.

"Lenalee-"

"Don't you 'Lenalee' me!" she said before he could finish. "You're too hard on yourself, Allen! Let me do this for you, just this once. I'm tired of you working yourself almost to death and then refusing to let anyone help you. If you don't let yourself be happy every once and a while you're going to make yourself miserable."

He stared at her for a moment and then sighed. "You're not going to let me out of this are you?" he asked dejectedly.

"Not a chance," she said, smiling.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. "But you had better not spend anything on it!"

"Don't worry," she said, waving a hand. "I know just the thing."

* * *

Kanda was watching the news. Of course, he didn't _normally _watch the news. Who wanted to hear about fuck-ups getting caught doing crimes and then crying about how horrible their lives were? Or better yet, he didn't want to hear about what new terrible faux pas was committed by a government official. He hated the fact that everything had to be fucking politically correct, he hated the fact that people could get away with almost anything these days and he hated hearing stupid sob stories on TV that he really didn't give a damn about. The logical question then was – why was he watching the news?

He had to watch a TV show for his biology class at seven. Since he wasn't doing anything else, he was watching the news until it was seven and he could change the channel. At the moment, the Discography channel was currently showing a program about global warming, and quite honestly, he didn't give a flying fuck about how the earth had warmed a whole degree Celsius in the past hundred years.

"And now to our top story of the hour," the news anchor said. She was an attractive blonde woman, her hair tied back into two tails. Her lips glistened with pink gloss that sparkled as she talked. Kanda had always wondered whether or not lip gloss and lipstick tasted bad. He would never try it, of course, but it didn't look pleasant. He wondered why girls went to all the trouble to plaster their faces with makeup. It made most of them look either stupid or skanky. Or both.

"The McCallister Bank downtown was robbed this afternoon, the culprits demanding a large amount of money," the anchor continued. "Apparently, they were after one of the high-security vaults. Unfortunately, they succeeded in both getting the money and slipping away without getting caught. The security system was found to be defunct after a police investigation, believed to be the work of the criminals. If you have any information on who might've committed such a crime, we encourage you to call the police, or our station's crime hotline. And now, let's check in with Charlie for a weather report."

Kanda muted the TV and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't really care about what Charlie had to say. He didn't really care about the robbery downtown, though it did somewhat surprise him. McCallister Bank was a large bank, the largest in town; all the important businesses had accounts there. The only kind of people who would go after a bank like that were either highly sophisticated or incredibly stupid. Considering the fact that they'd disarmed the security system, Kanda was led to believe that it was the second.

He wondered absently if this had anything to do with Cross and the brat. Surely a group like NOAH would have the technology to disarm a security system and sneak into a high-security vault. But if Cross was trying to stop them, he didn't seem to be doing too good of a job. He snorted. He had figured as much. Turning to look at the clock on the stove, he picked up the remote and changed the channel before pressing the mute button again.

"And now, we bring you our feature presentation – The Dung Beetle: Nature's Waste Management."

Kanda sighed. Sometimes, he just wanted to know why.

* * *

Allen picked up his cell phone, putting it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked. He stepped inside an empty booth by a bus stop, trying to get out of the howling wind so he could actually hear.

"Where the hell are you?" a rude, slightly drunk-sounding, voice demanded. "It sounds like you're in the fucking ocean."

"It's the middle of December," Allen pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Why on earth would I be in the ocean? Not to mention there's not an ocean anywhere nearby… I'm just outside walking home."

"Whatever," Cross muttered. There was a pause. Allen assumed he was taking a drag on a cigarette. Honestly, the man's habits were deplorable. He smoked, he drank excessively, he loved firearms and women were his hobby. Not to mention he was violent, rude and selfish. He was so going to hell when he died. "Did you watch the news today?"

"I saw a few bits and pieces," Allen said, frowning. "Why?"

Cross snorted. "The bank robbery on Johnson Street, brat, what else? It looks like they've decided to move earlier than I planned. You got that piece worked up to speed yet?"

"What?!" Allen asked. "I only started practicing a week and a half ago! I can't learn a piece properly in a week and a half!"

"Have it ready by January," Cross said, ignoring his protests.

"It won't be ready," Allen persisted. "I can't memorize a piece that quickly and have it up to speed."

"Not my problem," Cross said easily. There was another pause. "By the way, how's the rent coming on your apartment?"

Allen blinked. Well, he had certainly not been expecting that. "Why do you care?" he asked suspiciously.

"I don't," the man said bluntly. "But if you get evicted, it'll be a pain in the ass for me because you won't be able to learn this goddamn piece. You aren't staying with me."

"Like I want to," Allen muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Allen said quickly, trying to deter the dangerous glint he'd detected in his master's voice. "I'm…I'm fine on rent. Don't worry about it."

Cross snorted again. "Kid, I would be more inclined to believe Richard Simmons telling me he was straight over what you just said," he said. Allen scowled. "And don't scowl at me." He hated that his Master knew him so well. "Just don't get yourself kicked out on the streets. Major pain in the ass." Without another word, he hung up.

Allen snapped the phone shut and shoved it inside his jacket pocket. He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping to get warmer. It was so cold out tonight! For the thousandth time, he wished that he could afford to buy one of those really nice, expensive coats that kept you warm all the time. He hated winter. He hated that it was so cold – he didn't handle the cold very well – and he hated that everything was white. White was the color of purity. But when the snow got all slushy and gray, it was as if the world was saying that everything that looked pure was truly tainted. He didn't find it settling.

He looked up as another person entered the bus booth with him. "Good evening," the man said. Allen smiled and nodded at him. He was a tall man, with dark, curly hair and curious amber eyes. He watched as the other pulled a cigarette and a lighter from a pocket, and then paused. He looked over at Allen. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, not at all," Allen said quickly.

"Would you care for one?" the man offered.

"Oh, I don't smoke," Allen replied.

"Suit yourself," the man said. He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it before replacing the lighter in his pocket. Soon the smell of smoke filled the air. Allen braced himself as a particularly cold gust of wind came through. He wondered why they never made these booths with a full set of walls. There was always just two, three if you were lucky. He'd really like to meet the person who designed these things. He'd give them a piece of his mind.

"Cold night," the other man observed.

"Yes, it is."

"You look pretty cold there," the man said quietly. "Don't you have a coat?"

"Unfortunately not," Allen said, smiling at the other.

To his surprise, the other shrugged out of his coat and handed it to him. "Here, take mine."

"Oh, no, I couldn't!" Allen protested, holding up a hand.

"I insist," the man said firmly.

Allen looked at the man cautiously. It didn't look as if he was going to take no for an answer. Reluctantly, he took the coat and settled it over his shoulders, though he didn't put his arms in the sleeves. It smelled strongly of cologne and…sulfur? That was odd. He sniffed discreetly. Yes, that was definitely sulfur. But why it smell like that?

"Ah, I work in the chemical labs at the university," the man said, noticing his sniffing. Allen flushed a bit in embarrassment at being caught. "That's why it smells like sulfur. I try to douse it in something more attractive-smelling, but I can never quite get the odor out. It's maddening." He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke. "I'm Tyki, by the way. Tyki Mikk."

"Ah, Allen Walker," Allen said, shaking the hand the other extended. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, no, the pleasure's all mine," Tyki said. Allen felt a chill go through his body when he heard that. Something about this man set him off. It just wasn't…nice. Of course the man seemed like a pleasant enough human being. But there was just something about him that definitely did not put Allen at ease. "You're out awfully late for someone so young, aren't you?"

Tyki's question pulled him from his thoughts. "I'm nineteen," he said, a touch indignantly. Why did everything always think he was prepubescent? He'd been there, dammit! He had zits, he had hormones! Was there no justice in the world?

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed you were more than fifteen."

"I get that a lot," Allen said flatly. He turned his head when he saw the bus turn onto the street. The both of them moved out of the booth then and waited until the bus stopped. Allen got on first, slipping in his money and taking a seat near the front. Completely unsurprisingly, Tyki sat down beside him.

"Sir, I'll have to ask you to not smoke on the bus," the bus driver said, staring at Tyki's cigarette disapprovingly.

"Eh?" Tyki said. "Oh, fine. You're no fun." He chucked the cigarette butt out an open window. The driver scowled at him, but didn't say anything – after all, the offending stick of tobacco had been eliminated. He turned around and began driving after closing the door. "So, where are you headed to?"

Allen looked up at the man sitting next to him. "Just home," he said quietly.

"You live around here?"

Allen frowned. Wasn't that obvious? He'd just said that he was going home. "Don't you?" he asked instead.

"Nah, I'm just working here for the time being," Tyki said. "In my line of work, you tend to go wherever people are willing to fund you. Right now, that's here. Next week, that could be another city." He ran a hand through his hair. "Who knows?"

Allen fell silent. He didn't really know what to think of this man. Everything about him screamed suspicious, but Allen knew for a fact that it was often the people who _didn't _look suspicious who actually were. Appearances could be deceiving. "And you're a chemist, you said?" he asked. "I didn't know chemists had to move around that much." Not that he knew very many. Cross had some background in the subject, but he didn't have any degrees in it as far as Allen knew.

"Then you must not know many chemists," Tyki said, smiling charmingly.

"Not really, no," Allen admitted.

"You said your name was Allen Walker?" Tyki asked after a moment or two of silence. The bus pulled to a stop and more people got on; no one got off. Allen looked over at him as the bus started moving again and nodded. "You wouldn't happen to know a man named Cross would you?" Allen felt a chill go down his spine. What was going on here? "I once worked with a man named that. He was always going on and on about how he had to take care of a stupid brat named Allen Walker." He smiled menacingly. "He couldn't have been talking about you, right?"

"I would certainly hope not," Allen said, trying to sound convincing. Of course, that hit Cross's personality right on the head of the nail. But Cross would never have worked with this man. And he knew that for a fact. So either Tyki was just trying to get a rise out of him or he was implying that the two had met before. But either way, it seemed to indicate that this man was not someone Allen wanted to call his friend.

Luckily, the next stop was the stop he got off at. As the bus pulled up to the curve, he stood up. "I'm sorry, but this is my stop," he said bluntly.

"Oh, getting off so soon?" Tyki asked, pouting a bit. He stood up anyways to let Allen pass. "Oh, well. Have a nice night."

"You too," Allen said, though in all honesty he wouldn't mind if this man got hit by a runaway subway. He quickly shrugged the man's jacket off. "Thank you for letting me borrow your coat."

"Don't worry about it," Tyki said, smiling. "Keep it."

"I couldn't possibly," Allen said.

"Keep it," the man said, more firmly this time. Allen thought about it for a moment, but seeing as how he needed to get off the bus _now, _he just went with it. He didn't plan on keeping it. He would throw it out as soon as the bus was out of sight. He didn't need anyone's pity, and this man did not seem trustworthy at all. He nodded once and then hopped off the bus. Tyki waved at him as the bus went on by.

Allen shivered in the cold night air, taking the coat off. Walking along the street, he pushed the piece of clothing into the first trash can that he saw. He could deal with the cold for five minutes.

His apartment building was surprisingly well-lit when he got there. He frowned in confusion. Normally, it was dark at this time of night; most of the residents were already asleep or at work, seeing as how many of them worked night shifts. But tonight, there were quite a few people gathered out on the front porch, talking in small groups. There was even a police car or two stationed a bit down the street, lights flashing. He wondered what was happening. It wasn't rare to see domestic violence cases in this area of town, but it had never happened in his building before.

He pushed his way through the crowd and inside, where he walked up the stairs. People looked his way as he moved past them before they'd resume their conversations. There didn't seem to be any disturbance on the first or second floors, so he figured it had to be on the third floor – his floor. But of course he didn't think anything of it. There were at least five apartments on the top floor, maybe more; he had never really stopped to count.

It was only when he looked up to open the door to his room when he realized that he really should have thought about it. There were several police officers mulling around in his living room, looking over the upturned furniture and items strewn across the floor. Allen felt his jaw drop open rather stupidly. He stood there for several minutes until one of the officers noticed him and walked over. "Excuse me, but are you Mr. Allen Walker?"

Allen closed his mouth and nodded. "Yes, that's me," he said shakily. "What…what happened?" He followed the blonde-haired police officer into his living room. It didn't look like any of his furniture had been harmed – thank goodness – but it was all a mess. Several tables were lying on the floor, his couch had been shoved against an opposing wall, and papers and clothes – his laundry, he remembered sardonically – were scattered everywhere.

"Well, it appears as if someone broke into your apartment about an hour ago," the officer continued, looking down at the notes he'd written into a small book. "Your neighbors said that you were at work?"

"Yes," Allen responded absently, staring around with wide eyes.

"Do you know anyone that would've wanted to cause you ill will?" the officer pressed. "Anyone that would want to spite you?"

"Not that I can think of," Allen said truthfully. He didn't really know anyone that hated him. Well, Kanda wasn't too fond of him, but Kanda wouldn't do something like this. It was too…petty. He had a feeling that if Kanda really wanted to do something like this, he would've been more sophisticated about it.

"Was there anything that you had concealed here that was worth any significant value?"

Allen turned to scowl at the officer. "What do you think I am, a crook?" he demanded.

"My apologies," the blonde man said quickly. "But I have to ask according to protocol."

"What's your name, anyways?" Allen asked.

"Inspector Howard Link of the Industrial Valley Police Department," the man said, producing a flashy I.D. badge. "I'm here to see if there's anything that can be determined from the evidence."

"Well, Mr. Link, I think it's rather obvious that I'm too poor to have anything of significant value," Allen said wryly. "And I can't imagine why anyone would break into my apartment. There are people here who are better off than I am."

"How old are you, Mr. Walker?"

"Nineteen."

"And you live alone?"

"Yes."

"Your neighbors say that you are rarely ever home," the inspector pointed out.

"Well, I have to work three different jobs to keep up with everything," Allen explained. "I'm trying to save up for college."

"A noble ambition. But surely your parents would help you pay for that?"

"I don't have any parents," Allen said softly, walking into the kitchen. It wasn't much better in here. The contents of his cabinets had been thrown onto the floor and the refrigerator door was open. Luckily, his laptop hadn't been taken. He supposed that even a burglar wouldn't want the old piece of crap. He smiled at that; that was probably his most valuable possession, considering Cross would kill him if it had gone missing. It looked like a piece of junk on the outside, but the parts inside had been replaced with much better ones. He had been considering asking for a new one; now, he was happy he hadn't.

"Do you see anything that's been stolen?" Link questioned. Allen half-turned to look at the man over his shoulder. He hadn't realized he'd been followed.

"Not yet," he said. "I keep all my money and my cell phone with me. The laptop wasn't taken, though it _is _a piece of junk." He shrugged. "But I haven't seen the bedroom yet." He walked over to the bedroom, pushing the slightly ajar door all the way open. To his surprise, most of the police were in here, taking photographs and picking up evidence with tweezers. The window was shattered – that must have been where they'd broken in.

"Is anything missing?" Link pressed.

Allen looked around. There was his bed…his clothes…the stack of random books…his piano…his music…wait. His eyes flew back to where his piano normally stood. There was the bench…but the keyboard was gone. He felt his breath hitch in his throat as he walked over. The indent was still in the carpet from where the stand had been. But there was no keyboard. "Oh my God," he said breathlessly, sinking onto the bench. He had no keyboard. He had no way to memorize the music Cross needed him to learn. He didn't have the means to by a new one. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

Cross was going to murder him.

* * *

**Poor Allen. I always feel kind of bad after writing this whenever I make something bad happen to him. But he'll be happy in the end, so he really can't complain. Speaking of that, is anyone else totally ticked off that DGM's on hiatus again?? Seriously, what is up with Katsura Hoshino? It was only back for like...a month. It makes me frustrated, lol. Almost as much as Tite Kubo and his ridiculous cliffhangers. Seriously, he switches the scenea as soon as he reveals a secret and won't do another chapter on it for months. It's madness!!**

**Anyways, enough rambling. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review =3 !!  
**


	10. Famous

**Okay, so this chapter totally wasn't even supposed to be finished until like next week. I don't know what happened, haha. But I don't think anybody's complaining, right?**

**So, I think this is one of my longest chapters yet. Which is freaking hysterical considering I was afraid that it wouldn't be long enough if I ended it how I wanted to. I really don't know what happened. Also, since my skills of self-betaing SUCK, this chapter probably has typos in it. Because at the moment, I am too lazy to do it myself and I don't have an actual beta to read over it all for me. That would be nice, haha, but I don't have that luxury. ALSO. I probably won't be around much after this weekend until let's say...the end of May. Probably because I have to take an AP exam Friday, finish several projects, study for finals and then take the ACT again. So. Busy busy busy me. But at least summer is ALMOST here. Seriously, I am so sick of school. Does anyone else get up on weekdays now and just want to cry that there's STILL school going on? I do. On the worse mornings I want to shoot myself in the face. But that would be messy.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!

* * *

**

As soon as he groaned, it seemed as if all the police men went into a state of hyper-awareness. "Mr. Walker, what is it?" "Are you alright, Mr. Walker?" "Do you need to go lay down, Mr. Walker?" Overwhelmed, Allen looked up at the concerned faces of the officers.

"No, I don't need to go lay down," he said, rather irritated. Honestly, it wasn't like he was having a coughing fit or something! Had they never heard a groan before? It was a relatively common noise. "I'm fine, other than the fact that my keyboard was stolen, I need it in January and I have no way to get a new one."

"Well, do you have insurance?"

Allen looked up at the police officer who'd said that and scowled. "Do you see this apartment building?" he demanded. He normally wouldn't have acted so rude, but he felt that he had an excuse, seeing as how his life had just been forfeited to Cross, a.k.a. el Grando Diablo. "Do you really think I can afford insurance? I can barely afford to buy socks!"

"Calm down, sir, I didn't mean any offense," the officer said quickly. "It just seemed like the logical question to ask."

"Of course it did," Allen muttered as the officer walked away. He felt very weak and drained. He didn't want to deal with these people. He didn't want to deal with the hovering and the CSI-style forensic science. None of them were as cool as Warrick anyways, so he really didn't want them around. He found himself wanting to just curl up in his bed, go to sleep and hope to God that Cross' memory was permanently damaged so that he never had any recollection of Allen. But of course, that would never happen. As it was, he had to devise a way to get these goons out of his house. He looked up at the nearest member of the badge-wearing buffoons. "Are you almost finished?"

"We've collected a fair bit of evidence, yes," the man replied. "We'll probably take a look at the living room to see if any physical evidence was left there. We haven't found any in here, you see, despite this being the place of entry."

"If you didn't find any by the window, I seriously doubt you'll find any in the living room," Allen said flatly.

"Mr. Walker, I know this must be stressful, but I guarantee you, we are doing our jobs are best as we can, and we are fighting to make sure that we can apprehend this criminal," the officer said patiently, as if he had to explain this to hysterical victims of crime a lot.

"I know," Allen said with a sigh. "But I really don't care right now. Could you please leave?"

"That would be against protocol," the officer pointed out.

"Have I mentioned the fact that I work three jobs and the next shift starts in say…eight hours?"

"I understand that you have a busy schedule, Mr. Walker, but this is a very important investigation, and if you don't cooperate with us, we will not be able to bring the culprit to justice."

Allen scowled. Damn, these guys were persistent! But there had to be some way to get them out of here… In the midst of his desperation, an idea struck him. It was a hare-brained idea, a one-in-a-million kind of last-dig attempt, but he couldn't think of anything else to do at the moment. Obviously these people weren't going to listen to him despite the fact that this was his home. But he wanted them out of here – NOW.

He slowly stood up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. It was much quieter in here, giving him a chance to actually think. He put the seat down on the toilet and sat down. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he slowly pulled out his cell phone. He prayed to God that this would work. Otherwise, he thought he just might go crawl in a hole and die somewhere before Cross did it to him forcefully

* * *

Kanda scowled as he walked back to the desk standing in the middle of the museum lobby. It had been a trying day at work to say the least. Some brat had thrown up all over the woolly mammoth exhibit. And of course the janitor was on his lunch break, so Kanda had had to clean up the shit so people would come in the room. He swore that his hair still smelled like the vile brat's regurgitated DNA. And then, to make matters worse, he'd had to chase down some punk-ass loser who thought it would be cool to steal the rare chunk of yellow diamond worth fifty grand. Yeah, real cool. Almost as cool as was he bashed the kid's head into the side of the wall.

Heading inside the small, square-shaped desk – which wasn't really a desk, if you thought about it; he had no idea why it was called that – Kanda pushed Lavi out of his way, bringing up his jacket, keys and cell phone out of the small cubby he was granted to store it in.

"Hey!" Lavi said indignantly, catching himself on a corner. "Totally not cool, man!" He pushed himself up and put his hands on his hips.

Kanda glared at him. "Unless you want to be ground up into a fucking mincemeat pie, I suggest you shut the fuck up," he growled, slipping on his coat. He stuck his phone in his pocket.

Lavi snorted. "Seriously, Yu-chan?" he asked. "A mincemeat pie? That's just a bit too Fleet Street for me. I think you're losing your touch." He shook his head.

"You want to test that theory?" Kanda threatened.

Lavi backed away, holding his hands up in a submissive gesture. "No way, man," he said quickly. "I have to keep my A-game up for the ladies. Well, just Lenalee. So only one lady. Because you know I would never cheat on her!"

"Che, only because you're afraid Komui will chop your balls off," Kanda snorted. "Pathetic."

"And you aren't?" Lavi retorted. "You know you're just as scared of him as I am."

"I am not scared of anything," Kanda snapped.

"Suuuuuuuuuure," Lavi said, rolling his eyes. "So I guess that that time when we were five doesn't count."

"No, it doesn't," Kanda agreed.

"You are so in denial, my friend!" Lavi said, smiling sadly. "You know, one of these days, reality is gonna wake up and bite you in the a-" He cut off as his phone started ringing, singing some annoyingly catchy pop tune that Kanda was sick of hearing on the radio. If he heard it one more time, he would tear the damn radio out of his car himself and chuck it out the window. Screw getting electrocuted – it would be so worth it to see the tiny black box of retardation plummeting down a cliff to its death at eighty miles an hour.

"Hey-lo!" Lavi said, putting on his country accent. Kanda rolled his eyes. "Allen! What's up, little dude?" There seemed to be some angry muttering on the other end; Lavi just laughed. "Okay, okay, I got it, pal, it's your parents' fault. Blame genetics. I do all the time. So what's up?"

Kanda grabbed his keys in his hands and began to walk towards the entrance to the desk, getting ready to leave. He was so sick of being awake it wasn't even funny. It wasn't that he was tired; he was just tired of dealing with people. People were so…mentally exhausting. Really, they needed to make little tags to pin on people's clothes that would alert the rest of the general public to their idiocy. Maybe he'd get a brand patented.

"WHAT?!"

Kanda paused and looked over his shoulder at Lavi's astonished outcry. The red-head's face was in a state of shock; it wasn't the typical dead-fish Lavi face either. It was genuine shock. Curious now, Kanda stopped and listened to the conversation while pretending to be searching for the right key to his car. Never mind the fact that he only had three keys on the ring.

"Shit, Allen, that's serious!" Lavi said. Kanda seriously wanted to know what was going on now: Lavi actually sounded…_concerned. _"Did they take anything?" Kanda frowned. Take anything? Screw trying to put up a pretense of not caring; he wanted to know what was going on. Now. He took a half-step towards Lavi; the red-head looked up at him with a concerned look on his face. "Your piano? I didn't know you played piano." There was a pause. "You need to get the cops away? Why?" He barked out a laugh. "You make it sound like you're hiding something, Moyashi-chan!"

Kanda rolled his eyes. If only Lavi knew how true his words were. Oh, the irony. "Well, I would certainly love to come and help you bash the cops up, but I have to run a few errands for my Grandpa tonight." A bright expression suddenly appeared across his face, his smile devious. "Hey, I know! Yu-chan's here with me! He'll come help you make the bad cops go away!"

…say what? Kanda raised an eyebrow at the red-head, who was pushing his cell phone towards him. Kanda reluctantly took the phone only to be immediately met with a protesting Allen. "-that's really not necessary! I'm sure Kanda doesn't want to see me anyways! You know how much he hates me, Lavi, and I-"

"How the fuck would you know what I hate and don't hate?" Kanda demanded crossly, effectively shutting the brat up.

"Kanda?!" Allen said. "What – I mean – well, you know…I just…well it's not like you've really disguised your feelings for me!"

"What feelings?" Kanda asked flatly.

"Exactly," Allen said sighing. "Look, Kanda, I'm sorry. I didn't know Lavi was going to give you the phone. Just tell him I'll see him later."

Suspecting that Allen was going to hang up the phone, Kanda quickly spoke up. "Oi, Moyashi," he grunted. "Why are the police at your apartment?"

There was a moment of silence, only the barest background noises coming through. "…it was nothing Kanda, really. Don't worry about it."

"Che, don't flatter yourself," Kanda snapped. "I'm not worried. And you aren't a very good liar. So don't bullshit me. I'll only ask you one more time – why are the fucking cops at your apartment?"

Allen sighed. "Someone broke into my apartment," he said, sounding like a deflated tire. "They're trying to sort things out now, but I really need to get some sleep before I have to work tomorrow. And they won't listen to me and just leave."

Kanda smirked. "Adults don't generally listen to children, Moyashi," he said. "I would've thought you'd learned that by now."

"And since you obviously have so much experience with children, I guess you'll be teaching me etiquette next, is that right, Kanda?" Allen asked, quite exasperated right now. "Look, I'm exhausted and I really don't want to argue with you anymore, so if you're done being an asshole, I'm going to just say good-bye and try to get some sleep in the bathtub-"

"The bathtub?" Kanda asked, appalled. "Why the hell would you sleep in the bathtub? Freak."

"And where else do you suppose I sleep, Kanda?" Allen demanded. "The toilet?"

"Well, you're small enough," Kanda said indifferently.

There was a pause. "You know what?" Allen said coolly. "Just forget it. I don't even know why I'm talking to you. I called Lavi to ask for help, but since he's busy and you are quite obviously the kid who torched ants with a magnifying glass as a kid, I don't really know why I'm still talking to you. So good night, Kanda." And with that, Allen hung up.

Kanda pulled the phone away from his ear, chucking it back at Lavi and turning around without a second glance. "Hey, Yu-chan!" the red-head protested. Kanda studiously ignored him, walking towards the parking lot. "Be careful! That phone is worth more than you are!"

Kanda stopped and turned to look over his shoulder, sending his co-worker an icy glare. "Worth more than me?" he repeated. He snorted. "I'm fucking priceless, bitch."

* * *

Allen sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, letting his eyes slip shut. It was getting close to midnight and the cops still had not left his apartment. He had moved out of the bathroom and was now sitting on the floor by the front door. For a few minutes, he had watched the cops turn over his furniture bit by bit and uncover the evidence. Personally, Allen thought they were being quite stupid. There was nothing here. And even if there was, it wasn't like he could afford to sue anybody. Add in the fact that he had no insurance coverage and this whole ordeal was really quite pointless.

He frowned a bit when he heard an angry yell downstairs. He couldn't make out the words; he just heard the noise. But he didn't pay it much attention. After all, there were fights all the time here. Broken relationships, drug deals gone wrong…it was common in this part of town, unfortunately. It made him sad.

His eyes snapped open when he heard someone stomp down his hallway and then come into his room. Um, did they not know the meaning of the right to privacy? His eyes widened when he realized who exactly was standing in his living room. "Kanda?!" he spluttered indignantly. The dark-haired man turned over his shoulder, smirking.

"Che, idiot," he scoffed. "What are you doing down there? Trying to melt into the floor?"

Allen glared at him before pushing himself up. "There isn't anywhere else to sit!" he snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, my furniture is being harassed and apparently I will contaminate the area since I am obviously an infectious disease!"

"An infectious disease?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, do tell when this lovely turn of events come into being."

"Shut up," Allen said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you even here anyways?"

"You needed someone to break up the cops," Kanda said simply. He returned his gaze to the living room then. Inspector Link was staring at him suspiciously. "Oi," Kanda called over to the blonde-haired man. "Are you in charge of this?" He motioned to the cops who were now half paying attention to the brewing argument and yet still picking up hairs with tweezers. One man wasn't even doing a good job of keeping up pretenses; he was staring at Kanda, the tweezers in his hand absently grabbing a stray thread on the couch. Allen scowled at the man; his couch had gone through enough abuse today. It didn't need stupid people prodding it too.

"Yes, that would be correct," Link said stiffly, taking a step or two forward.

"Then you're the man I'm looking for," Kanda said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the man. "Leave. Now."

All movement in the room stopped immediately. All of the cops – and Allen – were now staring at Kanda incredulously. Allen's mind was screaming at Kanda, asking what the hell he was doing. You didn't just tell the cops to get out of your house when they were conducting a search. Link cleared his throat; all eyes immediately shifted to him. You could have cut the tension with a knife, it was so thick. Heck, you could've used a toothpick. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you have no jurisdiction here."

Kanda's glare only grew more malevolent. "Actually, you'll find that you're the one who has no jurisdiction here," he said coldly.

"Whatever do you mean?" Link said, taking a few steps forward.

"I'm sure you're not stupid enough to have not read the Constitution," Kanda replied.

"I am familiar with the document, naturally."

"Then you know that you're breaking the Fourth Amendment," Kanda said smoothly.

Link blinked. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," he said. "Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Che, I'd be fucking delighted to," Kanda said, smirking. "Under the Fourth Amendment, you have no right to search any private residence without a warrant." He looked around. "I don't see a fucking warrant anywhere."

Link frowned. "Someone called us because we were informed that this building was broken into," he said. "The police hardly need a warrant when we are called to catch a criminal-"

"But do you have a warrant?" Kanda demanded. Link's mouth closed. "I didn't think so. Moyashi here," he jerked his head back at Allen, who scowled at the nickname, "didn't call you to come out. Since it's his apartment, no one but the landlord can let you in. And I doubt the fucking landlord called you. Look at the retarded beansprout. Do you really think he would give you a warrant? He can't afford to have anything done about this, no matter what your fucking evidence proves."

"Be that as it may, we are half-way through the investigation by now and it would be foolish to just stop here," Link pointed out.

Kanda took a step forward, glaring down at the man's face now. "Leave, _now,_" he said coldly, "or I will make you leave now."

"You must be joking."

Kanda pointed at his face. "Does this face look like it's joking to you?" Allen personally thought that was rather obvious. He had never seen Kanda look so sour and annoyed. It kind of looked like the man had just drunk an entire bottle of prune juice. But of course he knew that Kanda would never drink the vile liquid. To be honest, he probably wouldn't either. "I didn't think so."

"Sir, what relation do you bear to Mr. Walker?" Link asked suddenly, staring suspiciously at Kanda.

Kanda blinked. "Relation?" he repeated. "What kind of a question is that?"

"The kind that requires an answer," Link said flatly.

"I'm his-"

"He's just a friend!" Allen interrupted, stepping forward. Kanda's open mouth closed as he turned to look down at Allen, a surprisingly neutral expression on his face. Allen chuckled nervously. He had interrupted because he hadn't wanted to be even more embarrassed than he already was; he had no control over this situation and to have Kanda call him a retard in front of the police wouldn't really make him any happier. "Just a friend." Kanda continued to stare at him for a moment before returning his gaze to Link.

"A friend?" Link repeated. He sighed. "Sir, if you bear no familial relation to Mr. Walker, then you really have no authority to tell us what we can and cannot do. Could you please step outside for a moment?"

"Let me think about that," Kanda said, pausing a moment. "No." Moving forward, he grabbed the closest police officer and violently shoved him out of the apartment. Before anyone could react, the other two standard officers in the living room had been ejected from the room. Allen was staring at the long-haired man with wide eyes. Sure, he knew that Kanda really had no respect when it came to rules, but this…this had to be some kind of offense! Kanda turned to Link. "So are you going to leave, or am I moving you too?"

"I seriously doubt you could do that," Link said flatly. He turned to the officers who had been in the bedroom – they were now standing in the doorway, obviously astonished at Kanda's actions. One was fingering his taser nervously. "Gather up all the evidence you've collected. It is obvious that arguing with this man is going to prove to be completely ineffective." He turned back to Allen. "Mr. Walker, I will have this evidence analyzed and see if any conclusions can be made. If something is discovered, I will contact you."

Allen nodded weakly, stepping to the side as Link and the other officers left the building. After they were gone, Kanda stomped over and slammed the door shut before turning around. Ignoring Allen, he grabbed the sofa and dragged it back to the center of the room before sitting down, crossing his arms and glaring at Allen. "You are so pathetic," he said. "What would you have done if I hadn't been here to help you?"

Allen scowled at him. "I never asked you to come," he retorted. "In fact, I think I pretty much told you the exact opposite." With a sigh, he walked over to a table and picked it up, putting it back near the couch. Without saying anything else to his impromptu rescuer, he began to try and restore some order to his room. The living room wasn't that hard, considering the amount of furniture the room contained. All the while, Kanda just sat there staring at him.

After a few minutes, Allen moved into the kitchen and began shoving pots and pans back in their respective cabinets. To his surprise, Kanda followed him and leaned against the wall. Finally, after a few moments of being awkwardly watched, Allen turned around and glared at Kanda, putting his hands on his hips. "You don't have to stay around if all you're going to do is stand there and stare at me!" he snapped.

"Was anything stolen?" Kanda asked, completely ignoring his previous statement.

Allen blinked. "Why do you care?" he asked defensively, picking up a handful of scattered silverware. Some of the spoons were bent, and the forks were missing prongs here and there. He sighed; it was a good thing he wasn't opposed to embracing his inner Neanderthal and eating with his hands. He opened up the drawer that had previously housed the now mutated cutlery and began sorting it out, putting it into its respective spot. But he was so agitated that he wasn't paying attention to his hands – which were shaking – and cut himself with a steak knife.

He took a deep breath before just dropping the stuff back in the drawer and turning around, moving over to the sink. Turning on the water, he put his finger under the faucet for a few seconds, ignoring the stinging pain. He felt tears prick his tears, but he was determined not to cry. It wasn't that the cut hurt that bad. This had just been such a frustrating, shocking night, and he was exhausted and still had to go to work in another…eight hours. Shutting the faucet off, he moved over a foot and just laid his head on his arms against the counter.

He heard Kanda move out of the room. Well, at least that solved one of his problems; he really hadn't wanted to give the other man another excuse to mock him. But only a few moments later, he once again heard footsteps on the faded linoleum of the kitchen. The footsteps got closer and closer until a hand reached out and grabbed his upper arm. His head shot up, staring at Kanda, who was wearing a rather passive expression.

Kanda didn't stop there though. He pulled Allen out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where he only briefly released him in order to pick up his keys and wallet. He shoved those at Allen before opening the door. Allen frowned; it was only then that he noticed the change of clothes the man had in his hands. "What are you doing?" Allen asked.

"You're a wreck," Kanda said bluntly.

Allen blinked when the man didn't say anything else. "My apartment just got robbed," he reminded the other. "I can't think of many people that _wouldn't _be a wreck."

"You look like you're about to have a nervous breakdown," Kanda said, grabbing Allen's wrist again, albeit a bit gentler this time. "And you said yourself that you have to get to work in eight hours." He pulled Allen out of the room, closed the door and grabbed the key from Allen to lock it.

"Where are we going?" Allen demanded. He struggled a bit as Kanda pulled him down the stairs, but it was obvious that the other wasn't going to let him go anywhere. He got several odd stares from the people in his building as he was dragged down to the front door and then outside. It soon became quite apparent that they were going to Kanda's car, which was parked a bit down the street. Kanda let go of him to get his own keys out of his pocket and walked over to the driver's side. "Are you ever going to answer my question?"

Kanda looked up, mid-way through unlocking the door. "What question?" he asked blankly.

Allen scowled. "Where the hell are we going?"

"Timbuktu," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "We're going back to my apartment, retard, where else would we be going?" He yanked his key out and grabbed the door handle. "Honestly, can you at least try to give the semblance that you have a brain?" He moved into his car and shut the door, waiting for Allen to get inside. Deciding that he really didn't have a choice, Allen slowly got into the car. And of course, just like the last time he'd driven with Kanda, no sooner had he gotten into the car than Kanda sped away.

"Why are you taking me to your apartment?" Allen asked hesitantly.

"Che, I know your type, Moyashi," Kanda grunted, taking a wild turn onto a side street. "You'll clean everything up, cry, and then not be able to fall asleep because you'll fucking dwell on it all night. Not to mention the sheet you would hang up over your broken window would freak you out when you wake up from dozing in the middle of the night."

Allen opened his mouth and then closed it. Well damn. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Kanda was probably right. But that still didn't explain why _Kanda _of all people had come to chase the cops away, and it sure as hell didn't explain why the same Kanda was taking him away to his apartment. "And you care why?" he asked. "You don't seem like the type of person to take pity on anybody."

"I don't pity you," Kanda said, taking another amazingly sharp turn.

"…then why are you taking me to your apartment?" Allen asked, confused.

"Because I don't want to hear you bitch anymore," Kanda snapped.

"I'm not bitching!" Allen protested. "And besides, even if I were complaining, I'm not stupid enough to complain to an apathetic loser like you."

"Say that again and I'll dump you out right here and now," Kanda threatened. "But who you bitch to is beside the point. Eventually, it will come back to me. You tell it to Lavi, and he'll tell it to me. You tell it to Lenalee, she'll tell Lavi and he'll still bitch to me. So whoever you end up whining to, it always comes around to bite me in the ass. I'm attempting to circumvent the problem." He turned into an apartment building parking lot then, ending the conversation.

Allen looked up at the building. It wasn't a super high-class place, but it was definitely light years away from his own home. After Kanda had found a spot to park and had shut the car off, he stepped out slowly, still looking up at the building. "Che, quit daydreaming, brat." Well, that snapped him out of his trance-like state. He looked down and glared at the other, but had no choice but to follow him into the lobby and then into the elevator. There was no one else there.

Allen distanced himself as far as possible from Kanda, going all the way into the corner of the elevator. He could feel the other's intense gaze on him, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't really in a mood to talk, especially when the only person to talk to was liable to start some asinine argument with him.

Kanda didn't say anything either, to his relief. When they arrived at the right floor, he just followed Kanda out into the hallway and then down to the right door. The other found the right key and unlocked the door, stepping inside and immediately going out of sight, not even checking to see if Allen followed him. Sighing, Allen walked into the living room, shutting and locking the door behind him – nervous habit.

He then absently looked around the room. The furniture was simple and in simple colors. There was almost no decoration; there were a few sofas, a television, a bookcase or two and a few end tables with random odds and ends on it. He moved hesitantly into the main area of the room before perching awkwardly on the edge of a couch. He smiled slightly when he felt how uncomfortable it was; but of course, Kanda wouldn't have chosen one of the soft couches that you could just fall back in and fall asleep. His was hard and slightly lumpy.

He looked up as Kanda came back into the room. The other man had changed into a pair of dark blue pajama bottoms and a plain black t-shirt. To Allen's surprise, his hair was down. He hadn't realized that it was that long. Kanda scowled at him. "What are you staring at?" he demanded crossly.

"Nothing," Allen said quickly, looking away. "I just didn't realize your hair was that long."

"Well, now you know," Kanda muttered, coming over and sitting down on the opposite side of the couch. It was comical really, how they always tried to get as far away as possible from the other, no matter where they were. "You can sleep in the guest room tonight. There's an alarm, so just set it for when you need to get up."

"Okay," Allen said, rubbing at his face.

Silence hung in the air for a moment, neither of them talking or even looking at the other. Allen was staring at the Berber carpet while Kanda was staring out the window at the full moon that hung in the air. "They stole your piano," Kanda said suddenly. Allen looked up at the other man, but he was still staring out the window, a nameless expression on his face. Allen couldn't place it all. But then again, he had never in his life met a person as hard to read as Kanda was.

"Yes," Allen said softly, "they did."

"What are you going to do?"

Allen snorted sadly. "What can I do?" he asked. "It's not like I have the money to replace it. I guess I'll just have to…stop playing for a while."

"That's not what I meant," Kanda said. "I meant what are you going to _do _about it?"

Allen froze. What…was Kanda saying? It sounded…like the other man knew about what his true value to Cross truly was, what he did behind the scenes. But that was impossible. How could Kanda know that? Sure, they were listed on every underground military group's black list, but those were high security information lists. It would take someone incredibly good at hacking to see…his stomach dropped. Kanda was a hacker. He'd hacked into the university's system files and changed all the answers on the final exams without getting caught. He knew it had worked too because he'd heard all about it on the news, not to mention at Starbuck's – the place was practically the second home to all the college students on that side of town. If Kanda could hack into a university's private files…surely he could hack into a military group's website.

"You know," he said quietly.

Kanda turned to look at him. "Know what?" he asked. "That you're basically an undercover agent for the government?" Allen cringed when he heard the words actually spoken out loud.

"Please don't tell anyone," Allen said breathlessly.

Kanda raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you think I am, brat?" he asked. "A tattletale?" He snorted. "I'm not going to tell anyone. What you want to do with your life is your business. I don't give a flying fuck."

"Then why do you keep helping me?" Allen asked quietly.

Now it was Kanda's turn to be speechless. He stared at Allen for a minute or two before sighing and looking away. "Hell if I know," he muttered. Allen had to strain to hear the words, but hear them he did. Kanda stood up abruptly. "The guest room's down the hall and to the left. There's a bathroom by it. I get up at four every morning, so if I'm not here when you wake up, don't bother waiting around." He began to walk away.

Allen stood up. "Kanda!" he said. The other stopped and half-turned to look over his shoulder. Instead of saying what he'd meant to, Allen was suddenly stricken by the way the moonlight from the window hit the other man. It wasn't that he was handsome; Kanda's features weren't quite masculine enough to be called handsome. But it wasn't that the other was truly feminine. It was more of a…more of an androgynous beauty. Allen had never really noticed it before.

"What?" Kanda snapped, breaking him out of his reverie.

Allen flushed a bit at being caught staring again. "Um, thank you," he said. "I know you don't really care about me and that you just want to shut me up…but thanks anyway."

He waited for a moment to see if Kanda would say anything back. He looked back up at the other after the silence continued longer than a minute. The other was staring at him. "I never said I didn't care," Kanda said finally. "I said that I didn't want to hear you bitching." Seeming to deem that enough of an answer, Kanda left then, going into his bedroom and shutting the door.

Allen absently wondered why the hell he hadn't had his head bitten off for saying those things, why he'd gotten a response at all. He hadn't truly been expecting one, to be honest. But what Kanda had said had confused him the most. _"I never said I didn't care. I said that I didn't want to hear you bitching."_ Did that mean that Kanda really did care? He found that incredibly improbable. They weren't even really friends. They had merely been thrust together a number of times due to a coincidence of fate.

Slowly, he began to walk to the guest bedroom Kanda had said he could sleep in. And then of course there was the fact that Kanda did keep helping him, despite not being able to come up with a plausible explanation. But what did that mean? He was positive that Kanda didn't like him, and there was nothing to really be gained from using him. After all, it wasn't like he could be held ransom – honestly, Cross didn't give a fuck as to what happened to him. And he didn't have anything of any value. Unless of course Kanda wanted access to government secrets or something. But he found that improbably as well; Kanda just didn't give a fuck. He did what he wanted, regardless of what was right. Not to mention, what was _legal._

He didn't close the door to the guest bedroom. He slipped off his hooded jacket and his jeans, leaving him in a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. He climbed into the small single bed before setting the alarm and rolled over, facing the wall. In a matter of moments he was asleep.

* * *

Kanda stared into the guest bedroom at the sleeping form of Allen Walker. Well, it was more of a pensive glare than a stare, to be honest. This was the kid – the _fucking kid, _for God's sake – who'd fucked over his mind. For some reason, he kept helping the brat. Him. Helping people. _Kanda_ fucking _Yu_ helping people. He didn't help people! In fact, some would say that he went out of his way to _not _help people.

The idiot was sprawled out on the bed again, his shoulder-length white hair spread around his face like a halo. Add in the fluffy white pillow and he looked like he was floating on some cumulus cloud in the middle of the night. But his face looked different from the other time Kanda had seen him sleeping. He didn't look peaceful, or happy. There was a small frown etched into his sleeping face. It didn't look right to Kanda. It was like a piece of art marred by one thing the artist had overlooked.

He huffed and walked back out of the bedroom and into his own room, where he sat down on the bed. It was close to two in the morning and he was supposed to wake up in two hours, but he couldn't sleep. Once again, it was the stupid brat's fault. That fucking question he'd asked. _"Then why do you keep helping me?" _It kept reverberating through his brain, in that innocent, pained voice of his. It sickened him and attracted him at the same time. How fucked-up was that?

A few nights ago he had wondered exactly what it was that he felt for Allen Walker. At the time, he'd pushed it out of his mind and told himself that he would worry about it later. But now…it was painfully clear that he couldn't wait anymore. He needed to sort this out.

* * *

**Oh, the Constitution. Can't you tell I've been studying history WAY WAY WAY WAY too much this week? With the practice tests, review cards and Spiro T. Agnew History of the U.S. board game (seriously...Spiro T. Agnew? Why the fuck does he have a board game?) I am about ready to go kick FDR'S tombstone. Honestly, I have studied more stupid agreements than ever!! Like the Rush-Bagot agreement (I KID YOU NOT) where the "Great Lakes were disarmed". Yes. Those were the exact words of my review book. How on earth do you disarm a lake? I know what it means, but seriously...that is the worst possible way to phrase an answer.**

**Anyways, rant over. I'll be better as soon as this month is over. Because as soon as school's out, it's Yullen Week!! That was what got me started writing fanfiction for DGM in the beginning!! I would do it...only I have no idea what the themes are, or even the exact dates. Because I'm awesome and totally fail like that, and my brain is totally fried at the moment. **

**Don't forget to review =3!!  
**


	11. Lose Control

**I'm back!!**

**So I know that I said I wouldn't be back until June. But it turns out that this entire week of school is pretty much pointless. Heck, we played Risk in my history class, we're making fudge and s'mores in chemistry, and had to go look up disease for a "wanted" poster for anatomy. What is this, the Wild Wild West? I'm doing the plague. A pox on you and your house!! Haha, just kidding. Anyways, so all the free time's given me some time to write more. And I finally finished this chapter.**

**I'm not going to say anything else because I really have nothing else to say, haha.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews!!

* * *

**

Allen sighed and sat down on his bed, panting. It had been a few days since his apartment had been broken into, but he'd been so busy with work that he'd only just gotten a chance to clean up. But he was finished – everything was back in its proper place. And the apartment actually looked a bit cleaner than normal, if he didn't say so himself. He wiped the light sheen of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Looking over to the window – whose shattered fragments had been painstakingly taped back into place – he was startled to find it was snowing.

He stood up and walked over to stare outside. Of course, the view from that particular window was just that of another building, but still. The snow was coming down in big, fat flakes, sticking to the dirty ground below. He couldn't help the silly, childish smile that crept onto his face. He loved watching snow fall. He didn't like how it turned into gray sludge a day or so later, but it was beautiful while it lasted. And after all, it was only fitting that it snowed on Christmas Day.

Lenalee was supposed to come and visit him later, to give him her Christmas present. He really hoped that she hadn't gone out and bought something. He already felt guilty enough just for letting her make him something. Lavi would probably come along too; the two of them seemed attached at the hip nowadays. But that was later. For the moment, he was alone.

He moved over to the bedside table and opened its lone drawer. Inside were various odds and ends – notes, string, pens, and random sheets of music. But that wasn't what he was looking for. He shuffled around until he found it, closing the drawer behind him. It was just a small picture, faded and a little worn around the edges. He stared down at him, smiling sadly. The man in the picture was smiling happily; a younger version of Allen was sitting on his lap, laughing.

"Merry Christmas, Mana," he said softly. "I don't know how good I've been this year…but I tried." He paused, and then snorted. "I don't really know why I'm talking to a picture, but I seem to do it every year, don't I? They probably don't even celebrate Christmas where you are now." He settled back into the blankets, making himself more comfortable. "I never really liked Christmas. It always seemed so…overdone. I mean…the message behind Christmas is really rather simple. So I don't really get why people go to such extremes to decorate their lawns with fat old man and sketchy reindeer."

He laid the picture down on one of his knees. "You loved Christmas, Mana," he continued, "But I think that was because it was my birthday too. I remember what you got me, that very first year after you adopted me." He laughed a bit, remembering the silly stuffed bear. "I took it everywhere. After a year, it was so dirty, you made me throw it away. That made me so sad for some reason."

He sighed. "I've made some new friends," he said, fiddling absently with his fingers. "You know Lenalee. She's very nice, as always, though lately she's been acting really protective. Maybe it's because she's got a boyfriend now. He's nice; his name is Lavi. He's always pulling pranks and doing stupid stuff, but I like him. Sometimes he'll come into the Starbucks and we'll talk on my break. You would've liked him, Mana." He paused, wondering how exactly to bring up the topic of the _other _friend he'd acquired in these past few weeks. "…and then…well, there's this other guy. I wouldn't say he's my friend, exactly…but he has done some really nice things for me.

"His name is Kanda. He gets angry at almost everything; he's rude and arrogant and kind of an asshole towards everyone. But he's an okay guy. Heh, he's actually helped me out of a couple of hard places several times…he's a very good listener, you know. Just like you always were." He smiled. "Of course, his answers aren't always so nice. But he always listens." He sighed then and stood up, taking the picture with him. "It's still hard, being without you," he said, laying the picture down on the table.

"I thought it would get easier with time." He shook his head. "But it doesn't seem like that's the case. But still…what's done is done. I can't change it. Merry Christmas, Mana. I love you."

* * *

Howard Link sighed as he closed the file. This was just so peculiar. He had thoroughly analyzed all the data on the Allen Walker case, but there didn't seem to be any records at all. There were no fingerprint matches. There were no other significant DNA samples. It was all so very maddening. And then there was the question of Allen Walker himself.

Now, he was a very thorough investigator. He made sure to know _exactly _who his clients were when he went through cases; that way, he could better ascertain as to what kind of people would target them. Having no prior information regarding Walker, he'd done some searches. And he was rather surprised by what he'd found.

Of course, there were the normal things – high school records, places of employment, etc., etc., etc. But there were also a rather disturbing number of instances that indicated that the young man was not what he seemed. These types of websites seemed to indicate that he was in some way connected to the government. That, of course, baffled him. Considering the man's living arrangements, it certainly didn't seem like he worked for the government – an employer that was infamous for ridiculously high salaries. It was quite a frustrating puzzle.

"Are you still here, Mr. Link?" He looked up in time to see the police station janitor standing in the doorway. Yes, this was the man known as Arystar Krory; he was quite an interesting individual. He'd gone to a good school and had gotten good marks, but unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to find any sort of work other than as a janitor. Link found him very suspicious.

"So it would appear," he responded quietly.

"Ah, it's Christmas, Mr. Link," Krory reminded him. "I thought you were only coming in for the morning. Don't you want to be with your family?"

"I live alone," Link said flatly.

"Ah, yes, of course, sir!" Krory said quickly. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't apologize," Link said curtly. "But I would suggest that you do your job and empty the wastebasket, or else you may find yourself without a job come New Year's."

"Of course, Mr. Link, sir!" Krory said, rushing forward to empty the wastebasket, which really wasn't even terribly full. "I'm sorry for intruding, sir!" He tidied up the office in record time before moving on down the hallway, pushing his cart of cleaning supplies. "Merry Christmas, sir!" he called back over his shoulder.

Link stared at the screen of his computer. While that stupid janitor had been dusting the windows, he'd found a rather peculiar website. This one had something to do with someone known as Cross Marian. After he'd read a few paragraphs, he was intrigued. "Yes," he said, leaning forward to stare at the picture of the red-headed man, "Merry Christmas, indeed."

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Allen!"

Allen blinked in surprise to find not just Lenalee standing on the other side of his door, but also Lavi and another woman that he remembered vaguely having seen before. "Ah, Merry Christmas to you too!" he said belatedly, opening the door wider so they could all come in. They all crowded into his living room, settling into the couch while he shut the door. When he turned around to face them, they were staring at him expectantly.

"Sit down, sit down!" Lenalee said hurriedly when he didn't immediately do so. He obeyed, sitting down in the lone chair that was positioned cattycorner to the couch. "So, Allen, I hope you don't mind, but I brought a new friend here!" She acknowledged the brunette woman that Allen _knew _he'd seen before. "Do you remember her?" Allen scrunched his face up, trying to remember…but nothing came to him. "This is Miranda! She works at that restaurant the four of us all went to!"

"Oh!" Allen said, his eyes widening in recognition. "I remember now!" He smiled at the woman, who was visibly nervous. "It's nice to see you again, Miranda."

To his surprise, the woman blushed scarlet, and was unable to get out a response. Lenalee giggled and answered for her. "She's a bit nervous," she explained. "But she's really nice once you get to know her. It turns out that she goes to the same university as us! She's a couple years ahead of us though. She's a graduate student."

"Oh, really?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you studying?"

"Um, a-anthropology," Miranda stuttered. "W-what about y-you?"

"Oh, I'm not in college," Allen said, the smile on his face falling a bit.

Apparently, Miranda noticed the significant drop in enthusiasm in his words, for a mortified look crossed her face. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, bringing her hands up to her flaming face. "I didn't mean to say something so rude! Oh, I never do anything right! I'm so sorry!"

"You didn't say anything wrong," Allen said, slightly confused by her antics. For goodness's sake, it was a perfectly normal question to ask. Was she always this paranoid? That had to be exhausting.

"It's okay, Miranda," Lenalee said quickly. She turned her attention back to Allen. "So do you want your present?" she asked happily. Without waiting for an answer, she handed him two boxes, one large and the other medium-sized. He frowned in confusion and looked up at her, about ready to protest that he didn't need two presents from her. "Don't worry, only the smaller one's from me," she said. "Lavi wanted to get you something too."

Allen looked over to Lavi to see the red-head give him a cheery salute. He couldn't help but smile back. He looked down at the gifts in his lap and then started to open Lenalee's. Underneath the wrapping paper was a small box. He pulled off the lid, and then laughed when he saw what she'd given him. Inside the box were a various assortment of all kinds of candy – there was fudge, cookies, chocolate, hard candy, candy canes, and even marshmallows. He'd always had a sweet tooth, and Lenalee knew that better than anybody.

"I don't know how long that will last you," Lenalee said wryly, "but you wanted something that I didn't have to pay for. I didn't have very many options."

"No, no, this is perfect," Allen said quickly. Lenalee made very good cookies. He didn't know what she put in them – she claimed that she didn't follow a recipe – but they were the best he'd ever tasted. He set the box aside and put the lid back on it. "Thank you, Lenalee."

"Open mine now, Moyashi-chan!" Lavi said excitedly.

Allen smiled and moved on to Lavi's present; the orange, lime green and fluorescent yellow wrapping paper wasn't done very well, and the tape wasn't Scotch tape, but duct tape. It practically screamed Lavi. After he tore off the paper, it revealed yet another box. He frowned as he pulled off the lid. And then his jaw dropped.

"Lavi!" he exclaimed. He looked up, astonished; the other man was smiling at him. He shook his head. "I can't accept this! You had to have spent a fortune on it!"

"Eh, don't worry about it, Allen!" Lavi said, waving a hand dismissively. "It was on sale."

"That's beside the point!" Allen persisted. "I can't give you anything in return!"

"That's not the point of Christmas, Moyashi-chan," Lavi pointed out. "'It's better to give than to receive.' Didn't your mom ever tell you that?"

"Well, yes, but…you didn't have to get me anything," he finished rather lamely. He looked down again at the heavy coat. He had never gotten anything so nice in his life. It wasn't really much, and he knew a lot of people who would be rather annoyed if they'd gotten a coat for Christmas. But he didn't have any coats, and jackets were rather cold in the winter, even when you did layer up. It was a light blue color, and was quite fluffy on the inside. He had a feeling that it would be very warm.

"I wanted to!" Lavi said. "You need one."

Allen opened his mouth to disagree, to say that you didn't absolutely _have _to have a coat, but Lenalee beat him to the punch. "Allen, don't you dare say that you don't need one!" she said quickly. He looked over at her, surprised. "You do too need one! You're just too stubborn to admit it and let us help you!" In a softer tone of voice, she added. "We're your friends, Allen. You should let us help you."

"But it's not fair to burden you with my problems," he pointed out.

She sighed. "You're not burdening us," she said. "But I don't think I'll ever get that point across, no matter how many times I tell you. So, how's your Christmas been so far?"

"Eh, I haven't really done much but clean up the house," he admitted sheepishly.

"Say, has Kanda come over yet?" Lavi asked suddenly, looking around.

Allen blinked. "Why would Kanda come over here?" he asked.

"Eh?" Lavi asked, looking over at Allen. He smiled in a devious manner, making Allen somewhat nervous. "Oh, no reason."

Lenalee looked askance at her boyfriend, frowning. It didn't look as if she knew what he was talking about either. Well, at least Allen wasn't alone then. "What are you doing for dinner, Allen?" she asked, diverting the conversation back to Christmas.

"I haven't decided yet," he admitted.

"You know, you're always welcome to come with me and Lavi to have dinner with Komui," she reminded him, smiling.

He sighed. "Lenalee, I already told you that I can't come over for dinner."

"Is it because of the yams?" she asked suddenly, a completely serious expression on his face.

"Um…" Allen trailed off, not sure of exactly what to say.

She sighed. "I tell him every year that no one likes yams, and yet he still makes them. And then he burns them, and there's nothing worse than the smell of burnt sweet potatoes, except for maybe tar." She shook her head.

"Ah, no, it's not because of the yams," Allen said. "I don't mind yams."

"So you'll go then?" Lenalee asked, perking up immediately.

He sighed again. "I never said that."

She pouted a little. "You know, Allen, one day, I am going to convince you to come over for a holiday dinner," she said. "Honestly, a little food can never hurt you, especially when you're skin and bones like you. And I know that's just how your metabolism works, but that doesn't change the fact that your BMI is disgustingly low."

"How low is it?" Lavi asked curiously.

"Like nineteen!" Lenalee said hotly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's yours?" the red-head asked.

Lenalee scowled at him. "Did you seriously just ask that?" she demanded.

"What?" he asked innocently. "It's not like I asked when you had your last bowel movement."

"Okay, way too much information," she said, holding up her hands. "Moving on!"

Allen chatted with them for another half an hour or so before they had to leave for Christmas dinner. He could've sworn that every other sentence contained an attempt to get him to go with them, but he fended off the attacks as best as he could. When they were gone, he sighed and moved his presents into the kitchen. To be honest, he hadn't been expecting Lavi to get him anything. He was a little miffed that he couldn't afford to get them anything in return, but the very fact that his friends hadn't even cared about that was really quite touching.

He looked over at the clock on the stove. It was getting close to five o'clock. He had better eat something fast then if he wanted to get to work on time. For some reason, there always seemed to be an abnormal amount of people who went out to eat on holidays. You'd think they'd want to spend the time with their families, but apparently not.

He walked over to the sink to wash his hands and absently stared out the window onto the street below. The snow was still falling, albeit the flakes were much smaller now. There was about an inch on the ground. It was very beautiful. A little ways down the street, there were children playing, making snowmen and having snowball fights. He smiled; for some reason, seeing happy people always made him smile. There was a woman getting out of a car right in front of the apartment. She was carrying a long, slender package. He wondered absently how she was able to heft it around so easily. Of course, he didn't think women were weak, but surely that had to be heavy!

He turned away then, wiping his hands on a dishrag before heading over to the refrigerator. He frowned when he saw that he didn't have much. Well, that wasn't accurate. He had plenty of food – but it was all random stuff that didn't go together. Like cabbage and ketchup. And cheese and strawberries. Um, no thank you. But there did look to be enough beef to make a pot of stew. It would've normally fed a family of six – which was just the right serving for Allen, of course.

Just as he brought the beef out and set it on the counter, he heard a rough knock at his door. Frowning in confusion, he walked over into the living room and opened the door. His confusion only doubled when he saw Kanda standing there, a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. "Kanda…?" he asked quietly. "What-?"

"I hate it," Kanda interjected. "I fucking hate it, Moyashi."

"My name is Allen," Allen said, frowning at the other. "But what are you talking about?"

"Even though I attempted to circumvent the problem, I still have to go to work and hear Lavi bitch and moan at me all fucking day long," Kanda explained angrily. "'Moyashi-chan must be _so _sad right now! He needs our help, Yu-chan!'" Allen would've laughed when he heard Kanda's falsetto imitation of Lavi, but the serious look on the other's face made him think that if he did, he would be decapitated. Kanda didn't seem to be in a good mood. "Do you know how fucking annoying that is?! I already have to deal with brats toying around with the exhibits and perverts going into the girl's bathroom 'by mistake'!"

"I'm…sorry," Allen said flatly. But he hadn't really complained to Lavi. After hearing what Kanda had had to say on the subject of bitching, he'd simply avoided talking about the incident in any detail. Of course, his friends had worried. He'd given simple, one-word answers. He hadn't been trying to cause Kanda any grief.

"You're fucking sorry," Kanda muttered, shaking his head. "That's not even the worst of it. You and your goddamn piano! I swear to fucking God, if I hear one more thing about that fucking piano, I am going to go batshit crazy, call it a day, and die!"

That startled Allen. Kanda wasn't serious, was he? But he didn't have any more time to think about whether Kanda was being metaphorical or not; the dark-haired man shoved a large package into his hands. He almost fell over, it was so big. It clicked in his brain then that the "woman" he'd seen carting the huge package must've really been Kanda. He flushed, hoping the other would never find that out. If he did…well, perhaps it was time Allen drew up a will.

"What's this?" he asked, staring at the package. It was wrapped in the plainest brown paper ever – it wasn't even wrapping paper. It was that paper they used to wrap boxes at the post office.

"Merry fucking Christmas," Kanda snarled, storming into the living room and slamming the door behind him. He almost threw himself down on the sofa, staring out the window with a glare so heated, Allen was surprised it didn't melt the glass. After Allen just stood there, holding the item, for a few moments, Kanda snapped at him, "Well, open it, goddammit! Don't just stand there like an idiot!"

Allen rolled his eyes. "Oh, forgive me if having a homicidal lunatic storm into your home and hand you a present startles me a bit," he said sarcastically.

"I am not a lunatic," Kanda said, clenching his jaw.

"Well, you're not making a very good case for yourself, are you?" Allen asked, smirking at the other. Kanda's scowl just grew deeper, if that was even possible. Deciding to open the package, he moved to sit down in a chair. Settling the thing between his knees, he started at one end of the package and worked his way until all the paper was off. He then flipped it over so that the top was facing him. It fell to the floor with a thud when his jaw dropped for the second time that day.

It was keyboard. Of course, it wasn't the nicest or the most expensive one out there. But it wasn't a crappy-ass one either. It was even…_new. _Normally, the only things Allen bought new were food and underwear. But this…he looked up at Kanda, his eyes wide in shock. "You…" his voice didn't seem to be working right.

Kanda was scowling at him, although the cleft between his brows had lessened a bit. "Che, can't even form a coherent sentence," he muttered. "Loser."

"You bought me a keyboard," Allen breathed out.

"I'm tired of hearing everyone bitch about it," Kanda explained. "If this doesn't shut that fucking retarded rabbit up, I'll personally carve out his vocal cords and tie them in his hair like ribbons."

"That's rather disgusting," Allen remarked, chuckling a bit. "But Kanda…"

"Don't you dare cry on me," Kanda said warningly. He pressed himself farther into the couch, as if he was afraid that Allen really was going to start crying.

"I'm not going to cry!" Allen said indignantly. "I'm not four!" He huffed once in annoyance before staring down at the musical instrument. "But Kanda…you bought me a keyboard." He shook his head. "You have no idea how much this means."

"Oh, don't tell me you're a sap, too," Kanda snapped, slapping hand to his face.

"You really just saved my life."

"It's just a piano, you stupid bean," Kanda reminded him tartly.

"You of all people should know why music is important to me," Allen said quietly. "If I don't learn a piece of music for Cross by January, he will quite happily murdered me on the spot. And he would've done that. But now, I don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Is that all music is to you?" Kanda asked. "Part of a job?"

"No, of course not," Allen said quickly; images of Mana were brought to his mind. "Music is…music is what defines me." Kanda didn't have a retort to that, so he continued. "It can be happy, or sad, or a complex blend of emotions…I've always had music, from when I was…oh, never mind." He laughed nervously. "I'm getting all sappy, as you put it." Kanda just grunted in response. He thought of something then, and paused. It probably wouldn't fly with Kanda, but… "Say, Kanda…would you like to stay for dinner?"

Kanda's head jerked over to stare at him, cocking an eyebrow. "What?"

"Dinner," Allen said slowly. "You know – food, nourishment, twelve essentials vitamins and minerals-"

"I know what dinner is, brat," Kanda snapped, cutting him off. "Why would you invite me to dinner?"

Allen flushed a bit. "Well, it's the least I can do," he said quietly. "It's not like I can pay you back, or give you anything in return." He fiddled absently with the hem of his shirt, waiting for Kanda to curse at him and tell him that he'd never in a million years ever accept a dinner invitation from Allen Walker of all people – the Moyashi, the brat, the punk, the _fucking bean._

"Only if you quit looking like a kicked puppy."

Allen's eyes snapped up in surprise.

"What's with that look?" Kanda asked him warily.

"I…I didn't think you'd actually agree," Allen said, too startled to think about what he was saying.

Kanda rolled his eyes before standing up. "Just go cook," he snapped. "I'll take this into your room."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Allen said, standing up as well. He watched as Kanda easily hefted the piano box up and onto a shoulder as if it was a ragdoll.

"Che, like you could, Moyashi," Kanda smirked. "You're so weak you probably couldn't lift a sack of potatoes."

Allen scowled at the other's man back as he walked into the kitchen. He yanked upon the drawer that contained the knives and started cutting up the meat that was still on the counter, imagining that it was Kanda's hair. When he was finished, he threw it all into a large pot that he pulled out of another cabinet and let it simmer.

Next came the potatoes and carrots. He chopped them up quickly before checking on the beef. It was finished cooking by now, so he added a can of broth and some water into the mix, along with the vegetables and a few select spices. He vaguely wondered why Kanda was taking so long. He pulled a spoon out and stirred the mixture around; his stomach growled in appreciation. He turned the heat down a bit and put the lid on before turning around.

To his surprise, Kanda was standing in the doorway, looking at something in his hands. He looked up at Allen. "Moyashi," he said, holding out the thing, "Who's this?" Allen looked at the item in the other's hands; it was the picture of him and Mana that he'd left on his bedside table. He normally would've been slightly pissed off to know that anybody had asked about something so personal, but Kanda was different. Allen already knew his past; he supposed it was finally time the other learned his.

"That's Mana," Allen said, smiling faintly.

"Mana?" Kanda repeated, raising an eyebrow. He looked back down at the picture.

"My adoptive father," Allen explained. "My parents abandoned me when I was three years old, after my arm…well, after it transformed into this. I lived on the streets for a few years until Mana found me and took me in."

"What happened to him?"

Allen waited a moment before answering. "He died," he said flatly. "There was an accident."

Kanda was silent. When he spoke again, it wasn't the words Allen was expecting. "Did he teach you how to play the piano?"

Allen looked up briefly at the other's face. It was surprisingly…inquisitive. Of course, Kanda's emotional range was practically the width of a teaspoon, so the expression wasn't quite the normal definition of a curious face. But considering that this was _Kanda, _Allen figured he'd just go with it. "Yeah," he said, turning to lift the lid on the stew. He picked up the wooden spoon and began to stir it. "He was a clown in a circus in London, but he also played many different instruments."

He heard Kanda sit down at the table behind him. "How did you meet Cross then?"

Allen snorted. "I almost wish I hadn't," he admitted. "He found me sitting in the cemetery near Mana's grave a few days after he'd died and just kind of picked me up. I was only eleven then. And of course, then he had me carted off over Europe, taking me to places no kid should ever visit and racking up enormous debts." He scowled. "Stupid womanizer."

"Che, sounds better than my adoptive father," Kanda said.

Allen put the spoon down and looked over at Kanda. "I didn't know you had an adopted father," he said.

"How else do you think I got here?" Kanda asked, rolling his eyes. "He found me in Japan and brought me back here."

"What's he like?"

"He's overemotional, sensitive, a crybaby and more dimwitted than a pile of rocks," Kanda said flatly.

"Was he the old man at the restaurant that one time?" Allen asked, thinking of the first time they'd met.

"Unfortunately, yes," Kanda said.

"He seemed nice to me," Allen said lightly.

"You didn't have to live with him for fifteen years."

"…true," Allen said, shrugging. The conversation lapsed as Allen finished cooking the stew and Kanda fell into a brooding silence. After about ten minutes, Allen turned off the stove and pulled down two mismatched bowls, one very large and the other normal-sized. He filled both, and set the normal-sized one down in front of Kanda. He handed the other a spoon before retrieving his own dinner.

They ate in silence. Kanda had paused after the first bite, as if considering whether or not it was palatable. Allen ate quickly, as usual, and managed to finish in less than ten minutes. There was no stew left in the pot. It was one of his better batches, if he did say so himself. Normally he ended up burning some part of the food. He sat back in his chair as Kanda took the last bite.

"So…" Allen prompted. "How was it?"

"It was horrible," Kanda said bluntly.

Allen scowled at him. "If you didn't like it, you didn't have to eat it," he said, standing up and putting his bowl in the sink.

"It wasn't that bad," Kanda amended. "It's horrible in that it's not soba."

Allen sighed and looked back over his shoulder. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to learn how to make soba then, won't I?" He smiled briefly before moving the pot into the sink and then going to retrieve Kanda's bowl. Kanda stood up and walked into the bedroom; he followed as soon as he'd cleaned the dishes. He found Kanda sitting down on the piano bench. He'd set the keyboard up already, and was staring at the keys as if he wanted to play something, but was too afraid he'd mess up.

Allen took the photograph of him and Mana that he'd retrieved from the countertop and put it back on its table. "You know, just staring at the keys isn't going to make them move," he said sardonically.

Kanda scowled up at him. "I can't play," he said flatly.

"It's not hard, once you learn," Allen explained. He moved over and cautiously sat down on the bench beside Kanda. Thinking of a song he hadn't played in a while, he let his fingers drift over the keys as the slow notes of the song began. "You just have to get used to it."

He fell silent as the music got more and more involved, letting himself get absorbed in it. He could sense Kanda beside him, staring at his fingers intently as they moved. The piece wasn't particularly hard or fast, so his fingers could afford to drag a little as he slipped them across the ivory and ebony notes. He let the final chords hang in the air when he was finished.

"What was that piece called?" Kanda asked when he was finished.

"Clair de Lune," Allen responded, "by Debussy."

"You seem to like sappy, romantic pieces," Kanda pointed out.

Allen scowled at him. "Well, it's not like there's a lot of hardcore, intense piano music out there," he pointed out. "The piano is a romantic instrument."

"Yeah, whatever," Kanda said. He paused before standing up. "I need to leave. I'm supposed to go visit my retarded brothers and anal father for Christmas."

"At least you have a family," Allen said reproachfully.

"I don't know if even you would want these morons," Kanda said flatly.

"How would I know?" Allen asked. "I've never really met them."

"You met them at the restaurant."

"Yes, but they thought I was a girl then," Allen pointed out.

"Whatever," Kanda said. "I'm done arguing with you."

Allen followed Kanda to the door. He felt as if he should say something kind, but this was Kanda. What was he supposed to say? Kanda opened the door and was half-way out before he turned around. "Oi, did you ever call that doctor I told you about?" he asked.

Allen blinked. "No, not yet," he said. "I haven't gotten a chance."

"He's open tomorrow," Kanda said, looking away. "He rarely has patients the day after holidays. You could probably walk in and get to see him."

"I don't think I have to work tomorrow," Allen said slowly. "I'll do that." Kanda nodded. Allen waited for him to turn around and leave, but when he didn't, he let a smile cross his face. "Merry Christmas, Kanda. And...thank you."

"…are you expecting me to say something in return?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow at the expectant look on Allen's face.

"It's only common courtesy," Allen said, frowning a bit.

"Che," Kanda snorted. "Happy Kwanza."

Allen's frown deepened. "I don't celebrate Kwanza," he said.

Kanda started walking away then. "I know that," he said over his shoulder. "I don't celebrate Christmas."

"So you celebrate Kwanza?" Allen asked, confused.

"I don't celebrate much of anything," Kanda said, turning to stop at the head of the stairs. Allen blinked at him. Kanda sighed. "Merry fucking Christmas, Moyashi." Before Allen could say anything else, he started heading down the stairs.

Allen smiled and withdrew into his apartment. Well. This had certainly been one of the most unexpected holidays of his life. "Were you here today, Mana?" he asked quietly. He looked over to the window; the snow had picked up again. "It looks like things might be picking up for me."

* * *

**So yes. Christmas is now past for our little friends. And NO I did not pick Clair de Lune because it's in Twilight. Goodness gracious, no. It just happens that it is a beautiful piece of music and is piano only. Anyways, if there are any grammar mistakes, I apologize. It's getting late where I am, but I wanted to go ahead and finish this up before I head off to la-la land. Hopefully the spiders won't attack as I sleep. Seriously, I woke up this morning, and there was not one, but TWO, giant spiders crawling around on my walls. I killed one, but the other one...it got away. I went on the hunt for it, but I was not successful. Now it's gonna pull a Private Ryan and come bakc and attack with a bunch of its comrades. Stupid spiders. I hate spiders.**

**I don't know when the next update will be since Yullen Week is coming up and I'm doing that this year. So...it'll probably be June. Yeah. June. That sounds good. Maybe earlier. Depends on how much you review. Hah, just kidding.  
**

**But...almost 300 reviews!!! I would be so happy if this chapter pushes it up to 300 reviews; you have no idea. That would be the most I've ever gotten for any story (sad I know, when there are stories with like 2000 reviews out there, but hey, I'm easily placated). So, don't forget to review!!  
**


	12. Psychotro

**I'm back!!**

**Alright. So this is the first of three chapters that I have to finish for all my regular stories now that Yullen Week is over. It was lots of fun and I'm looking forward to the next one if it's continued!! I need practice writing the oneshots anyways, haha. I have a tendency to want to draw things out and make long stories, obviously. So this chapter is still a bit on the shorter side, but that's because it's a transition chapter, between major events. I've got everything set up nicely, though, so it shouldn't be too long until the next update, especially since I'm on summer break now!!**

**And because of that, I'm going to try and have Xanthous finished by the time this summer's over. I love this story dearly, but I have a new idea for another story that's gotten into my head and is simply refusing to die. So it will be coming this fall!! Haha, sounds like a movie preview XD. But me and my best friend are going to work on it together, so it'll be good. Cause she's awesome like that. **

**Also!!!! I think my mom is considering letting me get my tongue pierced :D I'm soooooo happy!! This is the first time she hasn't flat-out said NO, and when that happened with the last piercing I wanted, I got it in like...two weeks. So, I'm crossing my fingers!!!**

**Thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!! You guys rock!! You guys gave me like 40 reviews for the last chapter!! Thanks SO much!! Je t'aime, je t'aime!! I know that's not the right way to say that, since it's plural...but at the moment, I don't really care, lol :D  
**

* * *

Allen pushed open the door to the clinic that Kanda had referred him to. It was a small, private business, apparently funded by the government. There wasn't anybody in the waiting room. The lady at the front desk looked to be reading a bodybuilding magazine. Allen blinked at that; it wasn't every day that you saw a woman reading articles on how to maximize protein intake without making your body reject it. She had a very bored look on her face. She looked up when the door clicked shut behind Allen. "What the hell happened to your hair?" she demanded rather crossly.

"Um, it just grows this way," Allen said after a moment's pause.

"Well it's weird as hell," the red-head muttered, laying the magazine down on the counter. "So…whatcha here for? We don't get a lotta patients the day after Christmas."

"I…I was referred to this clinic by a friend of mine," Allen explained. "He said the doctor might be able to help me."

"You mean you're dirt poor and can't afford anything with the regulars?" the woman smirked. Allen flushed a bit in embarrassment, but what she had said was technically true. "Eh, don't look so ashamed, kid, it's not like I don't see tons of people like you every day." She stood up and walked out from around her desk. To Allen's surprise, she was rather short. And her outfit certainly wasn't normal secretary attire. "Whatcha starin' at?" she demanded crossly.

"Oh, nothing!" Allen said quickly.

"Yeah, it better be nothing," the woman snapped. "C'mon, I'll take ya to see the idiot."

"The idiot?" Allen asked, confused. He followed the woman as she led him through a set of double doors and into a clean hallway, rooms branching off to either side.

"Did I say that out loud?" she asked, smirking. "I meant doctor."

Allen didn't press the subject. They bypassed the patient rooms and instead came to what appeared to be an office. A nameplate beside the doorway read "Bak Chan, MD". Instead of knocking on the door, the woman merely kicked it open. Allen's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he didn't say anything. A blonde man was sitting at a desk inside. He jumped when the door banged open.

"Fou!" he cried out. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?! We have a limited budget around here, you know!"

"Yeah, whatever," the woman named Fou said disinterestedly. "We got some kid here who wants to see ya. Says he was recommended here by a friend."

Allen suddenly realized that he recognized her accent. "You're from Queens!" he said. Fou paused and turned to look at him. He flushed when he realized that, yes, he had said that out loud, and yes, he had said it quite loudly.

"You gotta problem with that?" she demanded roughly.

"N-no," Allen said.

"Good," she said, smirking. She pulled on his arm and practically shoved him into the office. "Now, be a good little boy and make nice with the doctor so I can go back to reading my magazine."

"Fou, I don't pay you to read magazines all day," Bak said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't pay me to do anything," she retorted. She shot him a look that told him not to say anything else before exiting the office.

Allen turned to look at the doctor when he sighed. "Sorry about her," he said. "She's a cousin of mine. Her parents died when she was young, so I took her in, considering how much younger she is than me. She's really a good girl, if you get past the accent and the threats."

"I'm sure," Allen said noncommittally.

"So, sit down!" Bak said, pointing to the chair in front of his desk. Allen did so. "What brings you over to my side of town today? You said a friend recommended you to this place?"

"Yes," Allen replied.

"What was their name?" Bak said, propping his head up on his hand.

"Uh, Kanda," Allen said quietly.

A look of recognition came across Bak's face then, and he nodded. "Kanda…I haven't heard from him in ages," he said, his voice distant. "How is he?"

"Good, I suppose."

"I remember when he was just a wee little thing," Bak said, chuckling. "He was always so angry, and spiteful, even as a child. I guess that he hasn't changed much?"

"Not at all," Allen said, smiling a bit.

"Of course not," Bak replied. "So, what's wrong with you?" His face suddenly took on a look of horror. "Oh, wait, I didn't mean it like that! Well, obviously, something _is _wrong with you, but I didn't mean it to sound like you're demented or something!"

Allen laughed a bit. "No, it's fine," he said easily. "I…well, I have a bit of a problem." He hesitantly held up his hand and shrugged off his jacket and gloves, exposing his arm completely. He laid it down gingerly on the desk. "I've been seeing a regular doctor for several years at the university hospital."

"Xanthoma disseminatum, right?" Bak guessed, studying Allen's arm.

"Yeah."

"That's…quite odd, though, I've never seen a case this severe, especially in a patient so young…" he trailed off, looking up at Allen. "How old are you, exactly?"

"Nineteen," Allen responded.

"And I'm guessing you live on your own, without insurance?"

"How'd you know?"

Bak chuckled. "Since my clinic is government funded, I can afford to help out patients who couldn't otherwise afford to have cosmetic procedures done," he replied. "Kanda wouldn't send you here unless he wanted to help you." Allen blinked at that, not knowing what to say. "So, you must be quite special to him."

"Special?" Allen repeated.

"Is he your lover?" Bak guessed.

Allen flushed scarlet. "W-what?!" he yelped. "K-kanda's n-not –"

"Ah, I see," Bak said, waving it off. "My mistake. Still, he must really value your friendship to actually attempt to help you like this. He doesn't exactly take to most people, if you know what I mean."

"Y-yeah," Allen said, still a bit unsettled by Bak's earlier question. He cleared his throat. "The doctors over at the other hospital said that it didn't have anything to do with a serious metabolic disorder, other than the fact that I have an abnormally high metabolism."

"And then they told you that it was fully treatable with large applications of Grant's and Benjamin's," Bak said, nodding. "Yes, I can see that this would be a somewhat costly procedure. And there's always the chance that they would just grow back. You know that?" Allen nodded. "So, I'll see what I can come up with to help you, Mr.…eh, I can't believe this, but I don't even know your name!"

"Oh, Allen Walker," Allen said, instinctively holding up his hand for Bak to shake.

Bak took it. "Bak Chan, though I'm guessing you already know that," the blonde man said with a smile. Allen put his coat back on, preparing to go, when Bak spoke again. "I don't mean to intrude, Allen, so tell me if I am, but…is Kanda close to you?"

Allen paused. "Kanda's…a friend," he replied uncertainly. "I really only met him about a month ago."

"And he's taken to you this quickly?" Bak asked, eyebrows raised. "Fascinating…"

"What is?" Allen prompted.

"Oh, well, it's just that Kanda doesn't have many friends," Bak said. "And the ones that he does have have, well, known him for almost his entire life. For him to take so suddenly to you is, well, rather interesting."

"To tell you the truth, I don't think he likes me that much," Allen admitted. "He's always calling me Moyashi or some other insult-"

"Wait, he gave you a pet name?" Bak asked, surprised.

"I guess you could call it that," Allen allowed, rather uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

"And you don't think he likes you?" Bak asked, smiling mischievously.

"Not that way, no," Allen said. "I don't think I could ever really see Kanda as being gay. Honestly, I just assumed that he was asexual."

"There's always a possibility," Bak allowed. "But has he helped you out a few times in the past, despite grumbling and griping about it like you'd just asked him for a kidney?" At Allen's blank look, he chuckled. "Sorry, doctor's analogy."

"Well…a few times, yes."

"And does he do that for other people?"

"I…I'm not sure," Allen said truthfully. "I don't think so."

Bak grinned deviously at him. "Well, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. But I think you should probably start to analyze your own feelings for our own resident homicidal samurai just in case."

Allen smiled weakly at the doctor. "Yeah…I'll do that."

* * *

"You did WHAT?!" Lavi screeched.

Kanda grimaced at the unholy sound before glaring at his red-headed coworker. "You heard me," he snapped. "I'm not saying it again."

"But…for cereal…?"

"Don't say that," Kanda snarled. "You sound like an even bigger idiot than you already are!"

"But…why would you do that for Allen?" Lavi asked, rolling his chair over to where Kanda was standing and propping his feet up on the top of the information desk.

"You know I was going to see him, so I don't know why you're so bent out of shape," Kanda observed, watching the security monitors out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't know you were gonna give him a _keyboard, _Yuu-chan!" Lavi spluttered indignantly. "How much did you pay for that anyways?"

"Don't worry, I used your credit card."

"WHAT?!"

"Maybe now you won't leave your freaking wallet lying around for anyone to take," Kanda said, smirking. "Retard."

"Man, Yuu-chan, that's harsh," Lavi said weakly. "It wasn't too expensive, was it?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "No."

Lavi sighed. "Whew!" he exclaimed. "I only got a certain amount of money in the bank, Yuu-chan! That's so mean of you!"

"Serves you right," Kanda retorted.

"Anyways, how'd Moyashi-chan like it?"

Kanda was silent for a moment, thinking of exactly how to put it. "He…liked it," he said finally, unable to summon anything with more pizzazz than that.

"Don't be so blasé!" Lavi said, smirking. "You know, Yuu-chan…you've been doing a lot of nice things for Allen lately."

Kanda froze. He knew that what the retard was saying was true. He had hoped that perhaps he'd been hiding it rather well, though, seeing as how no one had said anything up until that point. But he should've known better – Lavi was surprisingly observant. "And what of it?" he asked.

"You don't do nice things for anyone else."

"Get to the point, dipshit," Kanda snapped.

"…Yuu-chan…you like Allen, don't you?"

"I don't like anyone," Kanda replied immediately. "You included."

"I don't mean that kind of like," Lavi said, shaking his head. "Everyone knows that you don't like anyone. What I meant was, you like Allen _that _way. You know. You _like _like him."

Kanda blinked in confusion. Did the idiot think that by emphasizing certain words, he was hinting at something else? He personally chose to remain obtuse.

Lavi sighed. "You have a crush on the guy, Yuu-chan," he said quietly.

Kanda didn't say anything for a moment. He just considered the idiot's words as Lavi walked over to help some woman get to the dinosaur exhibit. It was true that he kept doing nice things for Allen when he never did nice things for other people. And it was true that he couldn't stop thinking about the brat. But he was just curious about why the kid was working for the government. He didn't like Allen that way. He didn't want to…you know…_do _things to him. Of course not.

Lavi turned around and resumed his seat in his spinning chair, grinning up at his friend. "So?" he asked eagerly. "Am I right, or am I right?"

"Che, neither," Kanda snorted, pushing himself up off the counter. "I don't like the brat that way. And I'm not gay. There's some idiot in the Elizabethan exhibit smudging up the glass." He walked over to the exit, getting ready to go hammer the kid who dared put his piggish little snout to the pristine glass.

"Sure, Yuu-chan," Lavi said knowingly. "Keep telling yourself that. I'm sure it'll work eventually!"

Kanda blatantly ignored Lavi. Because of course, what the idiot was saying wasn't true. It couldn't be. It was absolutely preposterous. It was bollocks. There was no way in hell that would ever happen.

…right?

* * *

"Oi, you have that piece worked up, right?"

Allen sighed. "Yes," he responded.

"Good," Cross replied. There was a pause before he continued. "Looks like we're gonna be moving this Friday. I'll send you an address where you can pick up the general information from an old acquaintance of mine tomorrow. Got that?"

"Yes."

"Don't you 'yes' me," Cross snapped. "You should be grateful I'm still letting you work with me after all the shit I put up with."

Allen snorted. "Letting me work with you?" he repeated. "If you didn't hold it over my head that I owe you for taking me in all those years ago, I would turn around and never look back."

The man snorted. "You say that now, kid, but you know you're happy that I've gotten you this far in the business."

"Yeah…happy," Allen said quietly.

"Just check your e-mail later tonight," Cross snapped once before hanging up. Allen sighed and took the phone away from his ear before setting it on the counter. He could've laughed at Cross's words. Happy? He had never wanted to be a spy; he had never wanted to risk his life all for the government's safety. That wasn't his dream. He would've preferred to go to college, major in music education and then be able to teach music to people, maybe even as a professor. A family would be nice too.

He sat down at the table then, getting ready to go over the files he was managing for the restaurant. Now that Christmas was over, people were expecting their end of the year bonuses. Allen had to personally review all of the employees' work standards and then determine how much money he could afford to give away in bonuses and still decide who got how much. It was an incredibly painstaking process.

It took him several hours to complete. By the time he was finished, he was exhausted. Yawning, he pushed the pen and papers away from him. He looked over at the clock; it was close to eleven. Figuring that Cross had probably sent the e-mail by now – since he preferred to have his business done by eight to make time for women and alcohol happy hours – he started up his laptop and waited for it to load.

Afterwards, he waited patiently until he could navigate to his account. Sure enough, Cross had sent him a short message. Well, there really wasn't much of a message. It was just an address. Grabbing a spare piece of paper, he scrawled the street name down. Cross said to be there around lunchtime tomorrow. He didn't think he had to work at lunch. His Starbucks shift ended at ten.

Closing the laptop, he stood up and walked into the bedroom, changing into his pajamas and crawling into bed. He really hoped this mission went well. He hated it when they got caught.

* * *

Allen stared up at the house in front of him. It was somewhat Victorian in style, with large windows and a wrap-around porch covered in plants, despite it being January. The grass was overgrown and the cement of the walkway was broken in places from the vegetation seeping through the cracks. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, and then at the street sign. Yes, this was the right street. And…yes, this was the right house; or at least, that was what the crooked brass numbers on the side of the door said.

He put the piece of paper in his pocket before walking carefully up to the front door. The steps squeaked as he stepped on them. He rang the doorbell once and then waited patiently. A few moments later, the door was thrust open, a short man clad only in pajama bottoms staring up at him rather rudely. "Whaddaya want?" he asked, his voice slurred from sleep.

Allen blinked. It was almost noon; he almost wished he had the luxury of sleeping until noon if he wanted. "Um, I'm here to see someone named Froi Tiedoll," he said, smiling nervously.

"Oh, you're here to see _him,_" the man said, rubbing at his eyes. "Alright, c'mon in. I'll go get him. Old geezer's probably painting," he muttered as he walked off.

Allen stepped inside the main room. The floors were that old kind of hardwood that never needed replacing, and the walls were painted a bright, cheery yellow. A fire was burning in the fireplace. There were pictures all over the mantle of various children. He smiled before looking away. Somehow, it felt like he was intruding.

"Alanna?!"

Allen whirled around to see an older man standing in the doorway of the room. His eyes were wide with surprise. He had paint stains all over his faded blue overalls and his gray shirt. Allen blanched. This…this was the same man that he'd served in the restaurant that one time! Only…he flushed when he remembered that these people all thought he was a girl.

"Um…yes, that's me," he said nervously.

"I knew I'd seen you before," the man who'd answered the door said, snapping a finger. "I never forget a face!"

"You work with Cross?" the man Allen supposed was Tiedoll asked incredulously. Allen nodded. "Well, this certainly is a small world." He chuckled to himself, putting a hand to his hair. "I suppose you're here for the files?" Allen nodded. "Oh, well, make yourself at home. I'll go and get them, though it may take a moment. Now where did I put them?" He wandered off into another room.

Allen hesitantly took a seat on one of the plush couches. The young man who'd answered the door sat on the one opposite from him, staring at him intently. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "you don't really look very feminine to me."

Allen blinked. "Oh…well I've never really been very girly," he said.

"And you dress like a guy too," the man continued, appraising Allen's wardrobe selections – a plain blue hoodie and a pair of dark denim jeans. Both happened to be a size too big for him, since they had been bought used. "What are you, butch?"

"I'm not a lesbian," Allen said quickly. "I dress however I want to dress."

"Hey, calm down, calm down, I didn't mean it that way," the other said, leaning back into the couch. "I'm Daisya, by the way. Daisya Barry."

"Nice to meet you," Allen said quietly, unable to forget his manners.

"Ditto."

Allen had to keep himself from laughing. Honestly…_ditto? _Who said that anymore? He looked over at the mantelpiece then. There were pictures of Daisya as a kid, playing soccer. He remembered another member of the family as well – the big, silent one who'd seemed quite nice. But it was the one picture to the far right, almost concealed by another, that caught his interest.

It depicted a child of perhaps seven or eight. His arms were crossed over his chest and his nose was stuck up in the air. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail – only it didn't quite reach his shoulders then. The same two locks of hair hung down to frame his face, and the same bangs covered his forehead. He looked pissed off. Allen smiled; oh yes, that was typical Kanda.

"Whatcha starin' at Kanda for?"

Allen whipped his head around to look at Daisya, who was studying him intently. "K-Kanda?" he said.

"Yeah, that dunce in the picture," Daisya continued. He sighed. "Figured you'd think Kanda's hot. Geez, the guy's always gettin' all the chicks to fawn all over him, yet the bastard's as cold as ice. Never had a girlfriend yet, and he's fucking twenty-two years old." He shook his head. "Don't bother. He's a real prick."

Allen blinked. "I don't think he's hot," he said quietly.

Daisya snorted. "Sure you don't," he said. "That's why you smiled and stared at the picture all lovey-dovey like." He rolled his eyes. Allen couldn't think of anything intelligent to say to that. He hadn't been staring like that. He just found it funny that Kanda had been just as rude and obnoxious in his childhood years as he was now. But he was saved when Tiedoll came back into the room a moment later.

"I found them!" Tiedoll exclaimed victoriously. He held up a few sheets of paper in his hand. He walked across the room and handed them to Allen, who stood up to take them.

"Thank you very much," Allen said, smiling.

"Oh, it's nothing," Tiedoll said, smiling in return. "They were in the cookie jar!" He laughed to himself. "I wonder how they got in there!"

Suddenly, the door banged open. Allen jumped at the sudden noise, but felt his stomach drop when he saw who had entered the room. Kanda slammed the door behind him and took a few steps into the room before looking up to see three sets of eyes staring at him. His eyes shifted from Daisya to Tiedoll to Allen before narrowing suspiciously.

"Moyashi? What the fuck are you doing here?"

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**Hah!! Cliff hangers are awesome literary devices!! And that's all I'm saying because I figure a fair amount of you hate me right for leaving it right there. But the next chapter should seriously be out in like...a week, two at most. **

**Thanks for reading!! Reviews are most welcome :D  
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	13. The Only One

**Hello again!!**

**So I told some people that I would have this out by Friday. And I'm very proud to say that I did. A lot actually happens in this chapter, so I do feel that it's better than the last chapter. But on the other hand, it's all one scene and it's almost all dialogue. So, depending on what people like, it may not be your thing. I'm planning to have around twenty chapters when this is completely finished. The next one should be up in a week or two (but there's no cliffhanger this time :D) since I really need to focus on some of my other stories and get them back up to speed. I don't think I've updated one since April DX.**

**Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!! There's over 200 alerts now!! That's the most I've ever had for one story at a single time!! Yay!!

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Allen felt his entire face heat up with embarrassment. Oh, wasn't this next conversation going to be enjoyable? He couldn't bring himself to answer Kanda's question. It wasn't so much that he didn't have an answer to the question as much as he was dreading the other members of Kanda's family's responses.

"Moyashi?" Tiedoll said disapprovingly. "That's hardly an appropriate name to call someone you've only met once, Yuu."

Kanda looked over to glare at the old man. "Only met once?" he repeated. "Che, I've met this brat more than once."

"Oh, really?" Daisya asked, raising an eyebrow. "What, is she your girlfriend?"

Kanda's eyes widened as far as Allen had ever seen them. He couldn't even seem to come up with a good response. "That's not very considerate of you, Yuu," Tiedoll said disapprovingly. "As your father, I think it's my right to know when you're dating someone! Especially someone as utterly cute and adorable as Alanna here!"

"You're not my father," Kanda snapped scathingly.

"I might as well be."

"Whatever," Kanda retorted viciously. "And I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Then how do you know who Alanna is?" Daisya asked, blinking. He appraised Allen then, looking him over a couple times. "If you don't want her, I'll be more than happy to take over." Allen flushed in absolute mortification.

"No, you're not!"

"See?" Daisya pointed out. "If you're not her boyfriend, why are you acting all jealous and protective?" He shook his head. "Your argument's shit, Kanda."

Kanda glared at his family members, his fists clenched tight. "First of all, I am _not _jealous," he spat out. "Secondly, I am _no _one's boyfriend! And thirdly, the Moyashi is a GUY!"

There was silence for a moment. Tiedoll blinked in confusion while Daisya turned to stare at Allen, with a surprised-but-yet-not-so-surprised look on his face. Allen turned red in embarrassment, taking an involuntary step backwards.

"I knew you weren't a girl," Daisya said knowingly. "No girl dresses like that."

"Are you really?" Tiedoll asked, sounding more confused than surprised. Allen nodded timidly. "Then why do you work at that restaurant as a waitress?"

"Um…well…you see," Allen broke with a nervous laugh, running a hand through his hair. "Cross owns that place. But he's never around to actually run it. So I have to work as the manager. On top of that, I still have to pay off his debts and pay for a place to live."

"Yeah, but why work there?" Daisya interrupted. "I mean…that's crossdressing."

Allen flushed. "I know," he admitted. "But this way, I didn't have to go through awkward interviews and fill out tons of paperwork. I…don't tend to do well on interviews. People tend to think I'm a freak because I have white hair and this scar on my face."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Tiedoll cried out sympathetically.

"It's okay," Allen said, smiling a bit. "I'm used to it by now."

"Idiot," Kanda muttered.

"Why are you here anyways, Kanda?" Daisya asked suddenly.

Kanda stiffened and stood up straight. "I needed to talk to the old man."

Tiedoll chuckled. "Well, I'm right here, Yuu," he said, spreading his arms wide. "What is it that you need?"

"I don't need anything," Kanda snapped irritably. "Why do I have to need something?"

Tiedoll blinked. "You never come here unless you need something."

Kanda stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't want to say it in front of everybody," he said. He nodded to the kitchen.

"Oh, fine," Tiedoll said with a sigh. He turned to Allen. "We'll be just a moment if you want to take a seat. Marian wanted me to give you some further instructions." Allen nodded, and the old man and Kanda walked into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. He moved over to one of the couches and took a seat. Daisya did as well, he noticed.

"So, you're a guy," he said bluntly.

"Yes," Allen replied. "Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Daisya shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me," he said. "There was always something off about you anyways…" Allen felt as if he should've been insulted by that, but couldn't quite bring himself to retaliate. "So, what, are you gay?"

Allen spluttered indignantly. "What?!" he yelped. "Why does everyone think that?" Man, his masculinity might as well be lying on the floor now, having melted into an insignificant little puddle. Did he just ooze gayness or something? He huffed rather sulkily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, no offense, dude…but you don't really look…straight," Daisya said slowly.

"And how, praytell, does one look straight?" Allen asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you have babes hanging off your arms left and right, you got your pants sagging and you're never too clean, always a little bit scruffy around the edges."

"…you just described a rap artist," Allen pointed out flatly.

"Well, yeah, but you don't see anyone accusing them of being gay," Daisya said, smirking.

Allen stared at him for a moment. "Do I look like the next Weezy to you?" he demanded.

Daisya snorted. "No," he managed to choke out before his laughter overcame him. "You look more like Prince Harry meets the American hobo." Allen felt his cheeks flush a bit, but just let the comment brush off him. It wasn't as if he chose to dress this way. When you didn't have a lot of money, you took what you could get! Besides, Goodwill wasn't that bad. Some of the clothes there were very nice. The same couldn't be said for others, but that was beside the point. You just had to sift around a bit.

"Thank you _so _much for that," Allen said sarcastically.

"So wait…does that mean you're gay for Kanda?"

Allen stared across the room incredulously. "What?" he asked flatly.

"Makes sense and all," Daisya said, more to himself than to Allen. "You were starin' at his picture and everything. And that would explain why he knows you."

"I'm not gay!" Allen protested weakly. "Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

"Whew, the old man'll have a field day when he hears this," Daisya continued, chortling to himself. "Kanda finally found himself someone who can put up with him, the bitch!"

"What was that?"

Kanda and Tiedoll had reentered the room now and were staring at Daisya, different expressions on their faces. Kanda was, naturally, livid that his adopted brother had called him a bitch. Tiedoll merely looked expectant. "What will make me have a field day, Daisya?" he asked quietly, folding his hands in front of him.

"Allen here," Daisya explained, a quite satisfied grin on his face, "is gay for Kanda!" He laughed, seeing Allen flush scarlet and put his head in his hands. Kanda was currently sporting the expression that a squashed vegetable might wear. "And Kanda actually puts up with him! That means the stodgy bastard found someone who actually _likes _him!"

Tiedoll blinked. "Is that true, Yuu?" he asked.

"Of course it's not true!" Kanda said venomously.

"And of course you wouldn't admit it!" Daisya crowed victoriously. He pointed to Allen. "He's all blushing and embarrassed, so it's obviously true!" He snorted then. "I always knew you were a queer, with your stupid hair and your bitchy attitude!" He had to stop then, the laughs were coming so fast and hard out of his mouth.

"Is that true, Allen?" Tiedoll asked gently.

Allen looked up miserably, his face still red with embarrassment and now somewhat splotchy too. "Why does everyone think I'm gay?" he asked instead of answering the question.

"Well, you do work as a waitress at a restaurant that forces you to crossdress," Tiedoll said, smiling at him sympathetically. "And you don't seem to mind it."

"Since when has crossdressing had something to do with being gay?" Allen demanded.

"Che, it has everything to do with being gay," Kanda snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Have you never heard of roleplaying?"

"Yuu!" Tiedoll cried. "Where did you learn about that kind of thing? I never taught it to you!"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "All you did was give me a copy of You and Your Changing Body when I turned thirteen. You didn't teach me anything. Not that I would want you to." He couldn't quite suppress a shudder.

"It's because he's secretly gay and in a relationship with Allen," Daisya said, with conviction. "I'm convinced."

Allen groaned. "Can you just tell me what I need to know so I can leave?" he asked, so beyond the point of being utterly humiliated that he just wanted to go home.

"Of course!" Tiedoll said brightly, coming over to sit on the couch next to Daisya. "Marian didn't mention much, other than that you were supposed to meet him at the restaurant at ten. He said to bring along the score."

"The score?" Allen repeated. "Which score?"

"Score A," Tiedoll said solemnly.

Allen paused for a moment, thinking of the score that had been mentioned, and then nodded. He didn't really know why Cross wanted that particular score, but he figured he would bring it. Perhaps there was some hidden meaning behind it. "Is that it?" he continued.

"He also said to bring your set of lock picks."

Allen blinked, frowning. "I always bring my lock picks," he murmured. "I wonder why he'd think to remind me of that…"

"Che, I didn't know you were a criminal, Moyashi," Kanda said haughtily.

"I'm not a criminal," Allen said hotly. "You should known that, Mr. Hacker. What you're doing is much worse than what I'm doing. At least I have a warrant."

"You don't need a warrant if you never plan on getting caught."

"That's like saying it's only flammable if you light it on fire."

"Whatever."

Allen sighed. "I'm done playing semantics with you," he said. He stood up then, looking back to Tiedoll. "Well, thank you for the information."

"Oh, it's nothing," Tiedoll said, smiling kindly at him. "Come back if you ever need anything else."

"Of course," Allen said, smiling in return, even though he knew he would never do so.

He moved up to exit the house, only to have his arm grabbed by Kanda as he was pulled out of the house rather brusquely. "What-?" Before he knew what was happening, Kanda had put him in the passenger seat of his car and started to back out of the driveway. Allen put on the seatbelt out of habit – and a wish to keep all of his precious body parts intact – before turning to stare at Kanda, quite bewildered. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

Kanda spared him half a glance before looking back to the road. "What were you doing at my house?" he asked instead.

"It's not your house," Allen corrected him. "It's your father's house."

"Don't call that man my father," Kanda snapped harshly. "And answer the question."

"I had to go pick up some information that Cross sent him," Allen said, looking out the window.

"What kind of information?"

"…information for work," Allen replied.

"By work you mean your illicit government work?" Kanda snorted.

"It's hardly illicit," Allen said, rolling his eyes. "Undercover, perhaps, but it's not like it's illegal or anything."

"Why would he send you to Tiedoll?"

"Because he obviously has some connection to the government and Cross," Allen said. "Geez, I knew you weren't incredibly intelligent, but that seems dense even for you."

"Shut up," Kanda snapped.

"There's no need to be so rude," Allen pointed out.

"No need?" Kanda scoffed. "I was just called a fag by an idiot who likes to call himself my brother. And he's got that stupid old man in on it. Now they'll never leave me the fuck alone. And of all the people they think I'm gay for, it had to be _you." _

Allen scowled at him, feeling surprisingly hurt by that. "Well, I'm sorry to be such a bad option for you," he said. "It's not like I appreciated being called gay either."

"Che, it's completely different," Kanda said dismissively. "You look gay. I don't."

"I do not look gay," Allen disagreed firmly. "Just because you're being a royal ass today doesn't change that fact. You say you're family is never going to quit teasing you. Well, at least you have a family!"

"We've already been over this," Kanda said, rolling his eyes.

"Where are you taking me?"

Kanda looked at him briefly, but he didn't return the gaze. He was too busy staring out the window, trying to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. He didn't know why he felt like crying. He was used to Kanda being rude and insensitive. So why was it actually effecting him now? He didn't know the answer, but he refused to let the other see anything.

"Where do you want to go?" Kanda asked quietly. Allen was surprised at his relatively calm tone of voice, but he still didn't look the other's way.

"…I just want to go home," Allen said softly.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Allen finally got his tearducts under control, but that didn't stop the strange hurt he felt. Kanda didn't offer up any words to the silence. For that, Allen was at least a bit happy. He was sure that anything the other would've tried to say would have only made the car ride even more awkward than it already was.

Kanda pulled up beside his apartment. Allen was surprised when he saw that Kanda was also preparing to get out of the car. He unbuckled his seatbelt rather slowly, staring over at the other in confusion. By the time he'd gotten out of the car, Kanda still hadn't said anything. Instead, he simply climbed out as well, locking the doors before pocketing his keys. He looked over at Allen when he realized he was being stared at. "What?" he asked flatly.

"Why are you getting out?"

"…I need to talk to you," Kanda said quietly, turning around and starting to walk towards the front porch. Allen blinked, but quickly followed. After all, he had the key, and he didn't want to test Kanda's already bipolar emotions by making him wait. When they reached the third floor, Allen realized that someone had shoved a few pieces of mail under his door. He reached down to grab them, not looking at them, before he unlocked the door.

Kanda stalked inside without a further glance at Allen. He moved into the kitchen and then into the bedroom. Allen followed at a subdued pace. Kanda had taken a seat on one end of the bed, so Allen just stood there, waiting for the other to say something.

"Were you crying back there?" Kanda asked suddenly, after almost a full minute of silence. Allen was surprised by the question. "In my car, I mean."

"I know what you meant," Allen replied. "And no, I wasn't crying." Well, he had teared up; but that wasn't technically crying, now was it? Knowing Kanda, the other would just roll his eyes and scoff at him if he had actually said yes. His ego had taken enough hits today as it was; he wasn't ready to ask for more.

"Then why the fuck were you looking out the window and refusing to look at me?" Kanda demanded.

"I…well, I wasn't very happy with you," Allen said, shrugging. "I thought that was obvious."

"Of course it was obvious," Kanda snapped. "But why were you so upset? It's not like you don't know how I act towards people, and it's never bothered you before."

Allen sighed and sat down on the floor, leaning back against a random box of books. He hadn't managed to find a cheap enough bookshelf for them yet. "I…I don't know, Kanda," he said quietly. "Maybe it's because you take your family for granted." Kanda opened his mouth to give a retort, but Allen shook his head, and didn't let him start. "I know they're not your real family. But they took you in, and they still love you, despite the fact that you're the biggest ass I've ever met in my entire life."

"It's not like you weren't taken in, Moyashi," Kanda reminded him.

Allen snorted. "Yes," he said darkly, "I was taken in by a man who only used me to get more money for himself. If you honestly thinks he gives a damn about me, then you're even stupider than I thought." He looked up Kanda somewhat enviously. "I would do anything to get what you have, Kanda, and you'd do anything to throw it away."

Kanda blinked. "I know that," he said quietly. "But preaching to me about it isn't going to change anything."

"Well, you could start by changing your attitude," Allen said, rolling his eyes. "You don't want to change - that's your problem."

"And you don't have problems?" Kanda retorted.

"I have more problems than a psychology textbook," Allen said, smiling faintly. "Believe me, I know that very well, you having told me that multiple times."

Kanda stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. "You know something…" he paused, trailing off. He was looking at Allen with a curious look on his face, as if he couldn't quite put something together in his mind. "I don't understand you."

Allen blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, frowning.

"You hate your life, but you're too cowardly to do anything to change it," he continued. "You do more than you should for your friends, but you're too fucking _selfless _to let them do anything for you. You're always telling people that they have it so easy when you're the only thing keeping yourself from having a good life. You're a fucking hypocrite, and I don't understand why."

Allen chuckled. "Maybe I am a hypocrite," he said, shrugging. "But it's the only way I'll ever know."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he snapped. "What's that in your hands?"

Allen looked down at the mail for the first time since he'd entered the apartment. There looked to be a letter from Lenalee, a few advertisements and pieces of junk mail, and a letter addressed from his landlord. He groaned. He always hated reading the landlord's letters. They were never fun, and always ended up with him paying for something that he never really broke in the first place.

He put the other pieces of mail on the floor before opening the last one, taking out several more pieces of paper. The first looked to be a hastily scrawled note. There were grease stains on it, probably from food. He grimaced in distaste before looking at the other. He felt his heart drop about ten miles to the south when he read the word at the top of the page.

"Oi, Moyashi, what's wrong?" Kanda asked, then, apparently seeing the stricken look on his face. "You look like you just got hit by a car."

Too stunned to even summon up words at the moment, Allen just thrust the official part of the letter over to Kanda before numbly looking down to read the letter from the landlord.

_I told you I was gonna give you a week to pay the rent for last month. You'd better be fucking happy that I ended up waiting until after Christmas was over to send this your way. I can't support lazy bums with no goals in life who never pay the rent. You've got until tomorrow night at eight to have all your shit out of this apartment or else I'm calling Goodwill and putting in a donation. Just put your key in the mailbox. _

There was no signature, but Allen didn't need one. He let the letter fall from his hands as he covered his eyes with a hand. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten to pay the rent! That had been several weeks ago! Hot tears of anger started forming in his eyes, and this time he wasn't able to keep them all contained. He didn't even know what to say, what to think at the moment.

What was he going to do? He didn't have anywhere to live. And how was he going to get all this stuff out of the apartment? He didn't have a car, let alone a truck! He couldn't drag it all out and just set it on the curb. But where would he go?

"Oi…"

He jumped, dropping his hand in surprise. He'd completely forgotten that Kanda was still here. He looked up to see the other staring at him, an unsure expression on his face.

"What?" Allen asked, wiping at his face.

"What the fuck are you crying for?" Kanda demanded.

It took Allen about point two milliseconds to go from upset to severely pissed off. "What am I crying for?" he repeated. "I'll tell you what I'm crying about! I forgot to pay the stupid rent and now I don't have anywhere to live! How the hell am I supposed to get all this junk out? Forget that, where am I supposed to put it?! I don't have anywhere to go, I have to work almost solid from now until Saturday, and this is _just _the icing on top of the fucking cake!"

He normally wasn't one for swear words, but he figured this time, the situation demanded it. He groaned again, crumpling the stupid note from the landlord up and chucking it angrily across the room. "I have every right to be crying right now," he said stubbornly, the tears coming back as his anger fizzled out and died.

Kanda sighed and stood up. Allen thought he was going to leave, and was relieved to be left alone so he could just get the tears out of his system and move on. What he didn't expect was for Kanda to yank him up off the ground and pull him to his chest in what Allen suspected was the other man's view of a hug.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked.

"Unfortunately for me, you do have the right to cry now," Kanda said grumpily. "I wouldn't, but obviously, you don't have your emotions under control. So…just…just cry." Allen looked up to see him looking pointedly the other direction, a light pink flush dusting his cheeks.

"Kanda…thank you…but you don't have to stay," Allen said quietly, sniffling. "I'm sure you have better things to do."

"Moyashi, shut up," Kanda snapped tersely. "I do too have to stay."

"Why?"

"Who the fuck else is going to help you get this shit out of your apartment?" Kanda demanded. "You don't want the retarded rabbit doing it. He'll end up snitching something you need."

"But where am I going to put it?" Allen asked. "I don't have anywhere to go." His voice sounded completely hollow to his ears. He supposed it was because he couldn't believe Kanda was being so nice to him, especially after he'd just said rather mean things to him about five minutes ago.

"Yes, you do," Kanda disagreed. "You can stay with me until you find another place."

Allen jerked himself away then, staring at Kanda in horror. "Kanda, I can't do that!" he said, shaking his head. "I don't have any way to pay you! I don't want to freeload off you!"

"What the fuck makes you think I need your money?" Kanda sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not giving you an option. If I don't do this, everyone else will think I abandoned you and treat me like a piece of shit, annoying me left and right until I do something about it. I told you once, I'm circumventing the problem."

"But…" Allen trailed off, not able to think of a suitable counterargument that Kanda would accept.

"But nothing," Kanda retorted. "If you really want to do something for me you can…cook." He flushed a bit more, staring away again.

Allen blinked. "Cook?" he asked.

"You want to pay your way out of it," Kanda pointed out. "You don't want to be indebted to me. So cook for me. I don't have time to most nights."

"But what about the nights I work?"

"Just bring something home from that restaurant you work at," Kanda said dismissively. "I'm sure that freakish chef of yours won't mind giving you extra food."

"When did you meet Jerry?" Allen asked, blinking.

"The same night you fucking started this weird-as-hell relationship we have," Kanda said darkly. "And if you want something else to do…teach me how to play that." He jerked his head towards the piano.

Allen's jaw dropped. "You…_you _want to learn how to play the _piano?" _

"Snap your fucking jaw shut!" Kanda snarled. "Yes, I want to learn how!"

"Why?"

"I told you, my mother used to play it," Kanda said quietly.

Allen nodded then. He understood then, understood what Kanda wasn't going to say. Kanda wanted to learn how to play the piano because it was the one thing that could link him to his now dead mother. Allen found it very sweet, but he knew better than to actually say it out loud. "Alright," he agreed. But there was one thing that still weighed on his mind. "Kanda…why are you doing this for me?" he asked softly.

"I told you, I'm attempting to circumvent the problem," Kanda said automatically.

"What's the real reason?" Allen asked, not fazed at all.

Kanda stared at him for a moment before sighing. "You know, Moyashi…I really have no idea," he said quietly.

Allen nodded slowly. Somehow, he wasn't surprised by Kanda's words. And yet, he found himself comforted. He and Kanda had a very strange relationship. They weren't quite friends, but they weren't quite enemies. They argued and bickered, but they always kept bumping into each other. And Kanda kept helping him. He didn't know for sure, but he was almost positive that Kanda didn't know what to think of their relationship either.

Bak had told him to really think hard on what he felt for Kanda, in case the other really did like him as more than a friend. Thinking back over the events of the day, he couldn't help but feel closer to the other. The thought surprised him. He normally didn't let people get close because he didn't want them to have that power over him. But…perhaps with Kanda…perhaps it would be okay. Maybe he could let someone get closer to him, open himself up to them, letting himself become vulnerable.

"Kanda..." Allen murmured, stepping forward a bit. Kanda looked at him warily. "...thank you." He hesitantly leaned back into Kanda's arms, unsure if he was going to be rejected or not. Kanda was still for a minute, stiff against him. But then he slowly moved so that one of his arms was draped loosely around his waist. They stayed like that for several moments until Kanda finally stepped away from him.

"Get moving," he muttered. "We've got a lot of work to do. And I'll have to call Marie to borrow his truck." He grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and moved into the kitchen. But not before Allen saw the blush covering the other man's face. He blinked, and then broke out into a timid smile. Perhaps...perhaps Bak was right...perhaps Kanda really did like him as more than just a friend.

And for some reason, the thought made him feel strangely happy. Despite the fact that he'd just taken more ego hits than Britney Spears after she shaved her head. Despite being evicted. Because even though he'd remember the bad times later, right now...right now, he was happy.

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**I can't seem to write anything but sap these days. I really don't mean to, especially considering I've planned this story to end, but still...maybe it just means I'm a hopeless romantic on the inside. I don't know if that's good or bad, haha.**

**Whoo!! This story's almost got 400 reviews!! That's a lot for me, you have to know. I would personally love to get there this chapter, but I don't know if that'll happen because it's seriously like...um...yeah, bad at math here...lemme grab the calculator...that would 46 reviews. And that's a lot of reviews for one chapter, haha!! So, it would be great if that happened, but hey, you guys already rock, so no pressure from me :D**

**Thanks for reading!! And, as always, don't forget to review :D  
**


	14. Smells Like Teen Spirit

**Hello everybody!!**

**The past few hours have rather sucked, considering that my internet decided it hated me. I came very close to chucking the computer out the window. I was that fed up with it. But...I'm good now. I had some ice cream and turned on some Nirvana. And I even edited this before I had internet back!! There are probably still some errors, but...eh. I'm only human. And tomorrow will be a good day!! SUPPOSEDLY some clothes I ordered are coming in (including an uber-awesome Star Trek t-shirt and an even cooler Donkey Kong one!!) as well as my other books for summer reading. One is like 1,300 pages though. Hooray!! I better get cracking, lol.**

**Oh, and did I mention how awesome all you guys are? Because you are. Seriously, I got over 50 reviews for the last chapter alone, not to mention quite on few on previous chapters too. Seriously, you guys are the best. So, thanks bunches for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!**

* * *

"Oi, is Marie there?"

Allen looked down nervously at the phone. Kanda had currently set it to speaker so that they could both hear the conversation. Apparently, Marie had a truck that they could borrow to move Allen's stuff out. The only problem was, Marie was kind of AWOL at the moment. He wasn't at work, he wasn't at class and he wasn't answering his cell phone. Kanda was getting rather vexed.

"Kanda?" Allen recognized Daisya's voice. "Why the hell do you need Marie?"

"I need to borrow his truck."

"What, did you run into someone again?" Daisya asked, snorting. "Because you know, if you just got in a wreck, I really doubt Marie's gonna let you borrow his truck. You know how he loves that thing."

"I didn't get in a wreck, you fucking moron," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "I just need to borrow his truck for a few hours."

"Why?"

"Because it's got a Hemi," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "I need to move some shit, you moron! I can't exactly do that with a Honda Accord!"

"You were the one who wanted the car," Daisya pointed out.

"Goddammit, will you just go see if he's there?" Kanda demanded.

"Oh, he's here," Daisya said easily. "Just got home about twenty minutes ago. In fact, he's sitting right next to me. Wanna talk to him?" Kanda growled rather menacingly and Allen scooted a bit farther away. "Hey, I got a better idea. I'll put 'em on speaker phone." There was a brief pause, and suddenly the noise level picked up. "Alright, we're on!"

"Kanda?" a calm, quiet voice asked. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, the fucking loon to get the hell away from the phone," Kanda snarled. "I need to borrow your truck for a few hours."

"…why?" Marie asked slowly.

"I need to move some shit around and it won't all fit in my car," Kanda said. He looked quite annoyed at having to repeat himself.

"How much stuff are we talking about?" Marie asked. "You're not one to go and buy tons of stuff at the store. What are you moving around?"

"Just…stuff," Kanda huffed.

"What kind of stuff?" Daisya asked in a sing-songy voice.

Allen sighed, having heard enough of this silly little game. "He's helping me move out of my apartment," he said quietly, leaning forward a bit towards the phone. Kanda shot him a livid glare, which he promptly ignored.

"Eh, Allen?" Daisya asked. "Is that you?" There was a brief pause as Daisya apparently said something to Marie that sounded like, "The only person in the world Kanda can put up with. I swear, they're so gay for each other. Kanda's just too stuck-up to say anything."

"Yes," Allen said without thinking.

"Why is Kanda helping you move?" Daisya asked slyly.

"…because he's here with me?" Allen tried, hoping that that would satisfy the other. But his hopes were shattered when Daisya just burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, you're not gonna live _with_ him, are you?"

Allen bit his bottom lip, not knowing what to say; he looked over to Kanda, who was staring at him with the oddest expression on his face for some reason. But as soon as their eyes connected, Kanda seemed to snap out of it. Snarling, he jerked the phone closer to him. "And what if he is, dipshit?" he demanded. "What's so fucking bad about living with me?"

"That's like living with Charles Manson!" Daisya cackled. "Oh, oh, or Jack the Ripper!" He had to stop talking for a moment to wait until his laughter was under control. "Oh my God, Kanda, you are _so_ gay!"

"He's not that bad," Allen said quickly, trying to rectify the hopelessly bad situation. Kanda shot him an exasperated sort of look. "I mean, he was just being nice!"

"Hey, Kanda, make sure you use protection!" Daisya snorted.

Ignoring a blushing Allen, Kanda punched the counter furiously. Allen heard an ominous crack and winced, hoping that he wouldn't have to pay for anything. "Shut your fucking mouth, you fucking piece of shit!" he said hotly. "I am _not _gay, and even if I was, it wouldn't be for the fucking beansprout! He is _just _living with me until he finds a fucking place to stay! So zip it!"

"Or what?" Daisya snickered. "What are you gonna do, Kanda?"

"I will make your life a living hell," Kanda said menacingly, his voice taking on a quality that made Allen take a few steps back. It sounded like the voice of Satan.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Daisya said, sounding completely nonplussed. "So…when's the wedding?"

Allen had to step in then and take the phone away from Kanda, lest it end up smashed. "Um, we're not getting married," he said, fighting the blush on his cheeks. "And we really just need to borrow Marie's truck. Is there any way we could? Because Kanda is seriously starting to rival the tomato soup I ate for lunch."

"Moyashi…" Kanda growled warningly.

"Sure, Allen, I'll drive over to your apartment," Marie said quietly. "What's the address?"

"Oh, but how are you going to get back to your house?" Allen asked, frowning.

"I'll take the bus," Marie said quietly. "Kanda can just bring me back the truck later."

"Oh, alright," Allen said slowly. He gave Marie the apartment address and then quickly hung up before Daisya could make any more remarks that would really piss Kanda off. He was already practically hanging onto the cliff by a finger; no need to completely push him off. He looked around to see said ticking time bomb, but frowned when he couldn't find him. He moved out into the living room, where the other was sitting on a couch, staring at the ceiling. "Um…Kanda?"

"_What?" _

Allen flinched at the harshness in the other's voice. Obviously, Kanda was not in a good mood. "Um…sorry about that," he said quickly. He had half a mind to go over and sit down next to Kanda, but that idea had quickly come and gone. He would probably get killed. At the very least, physically maimed. "Marie said he'll be here in about ten minutes."

"I heard, idiot," Kanda snapped.

"Oh," Allen said. He looked away, not sure of what to say. On one hand, he felt like he should apologize, but on the other hand, he really didn't. Because really, it was rather funny, seeing Kanda get so worked up over what was really nothing. He looked up when Kanda sighed suddenly.

"Don't tell me you're feeling all guilty now," Kanda said warningly.

"Um…alright, I don't feel guilty," Allen replied, looking back at Kanda.

"I don't believe you." Kanda snorted. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a horrible liar?"

"I believe you have several times," Allen said, smirking a bit.

"Well, it's true." Kanda looked at him then. "Do you have any boxes to put your shit in?"

"Boxes?" Allen repeated. "I think I have some leftover from when I moved into this place." He didn't just think, he knew. They were under the kitchen sink. He hadn't been sure what to do with them when he'd finished moving in, so he'd just stuffed them there along with the other junk that he didn't know what to do with. He turned around and walked into the kitchen then. He quickly found the folded-up boxes and pulled them out, setting them on the kitchen table.

Kanda came into the room a moment later. He didn't say a word, merely starting to unfold the boxes and set them up. Allen couldn't believe how civil Kanda was being towards him. First, the other man offered him a place to stay. Now he was helping him move. What was next? A written doctrine documenting their newly established friendship? He wasn't holding his breath. Personally, he was rather holding out on the belief that Kanda was suffering from bipolar disorder.

It only took a few minutes to get the boxes set up. "I'll start packing up your books," Kanda said. "You can get the light stuff." He smirked then. "God knows you're not strong enough to actually pick up anything that actually has substance to it."

Allen scowled at him. "I'm not that weak," he said, picking up a box and following Kanda into the bedroom. He set the box on the floor and started folding up the blankets on his bed.

"Really, Moyashi?" Kanda asked, cocking an eyebrow as he moved over to the bookcase and started putting books into the box. "Because if I were just going on your physical appearance, I have to say, you're a complete shrimp."

"And what are you, a barnacle?" Allen asked, rolling his eyes. "It fits – you're all hard and crusty."

"Shut up," Kanda snapped. "If you're a shrimp, I'm a shark."

Allen snorted. "Of course, how did I forget?" he asked sarcastically. "You'd have to be the stupidest animal in the ocean."

"At least I'm not the smallest," Kanda retorted.

"Okay, why are we arguing over this?" Allen asked, frowning. He stuffed his pillow into the box after the last of the sheets were in place. "This isn't even worth arguing over!"

"You started it," Kanda said, shrugging.

"I did not!" Allen said, turning around angrily. "And for goodness's sake, would you quit acting like a two year-old?"

"At least I don't look like a two year-old."

Allen rolled his eyes and turned back around, closing the now full box. "I'm done arguing with you," he snapped, picking up the box and walking into the living room, where he dropped it off. He grabbed another box and then walked back into the bedroom to start working on his clothes. "It's not worth it."

They worked in silence for the next few minutes, Allen grabbing clothes left and right to stick in the box and Kanda neatly stacking the books. Kanda finished first this time, and went to go and retrieve another box. Allen dumped the contents of his sock drawer into his own box and then shut it. He picked it up. This one was quite a bit heavier than the last one, but it still wasn't too bad. However, it was also taller, so he couldn't really see over the top of it.

He moved towards the door, his face pressed against the side of the box. He knew how to get around in his apartment, so it wasn't really like he needed to see that much. After all, he always made sure that there was a clear path from the bed to the doorway so he wouldn't trip. He had a horrible sense of balance, so he wasn't taking any chances.

He yelped when he collided with something that he knew shouldn't have been in the doorway. The box, being quite unwieldy, caused him to fall forwards instead of backwards, though. It flew out of his hands as he fell, clothes landing everywhere in the kitchen. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact on the hard floor. But it never came. Instead, he landed on something that was firm, but still relatively soft.

Tentatively, he opened his eyes. And then his face turned absolutely cerise when he saw Kanda sprawled out underneath him. The dark-haired man was staring up at him, what looked to be a confused expression on his face. His silver eyes widened, but he found that he couldn't say anything. It was as if he'd been frozen in that exact moment. Kanda didn't say anything either.

"K-kanda," he finally managed to choke out. "I-I'm sorry. I c-couldn't see you because of the b-box."

"I got that," Kanda said wryly.

Allen stared at Kanda, frowning then. He'd never seen the other's face at this distance before. Just like that time back at Kanda's apartment, he was suddenly struck by just how beautiful – not handsome, not manly, but _beautiful_ – this man was. From the sharp bridge of his nose to the curve of his lips to the high planes of his cheekbones, he was almost too perfect. Well, physically; his personality was somewhat lacking. "Your eyes are blue," he said softly.

Kanda quirked an eyebrow at him. "Your point?"

"I didn't know your eyes were blue," Allen quietly.

"And I don't know why you won't get off me."

"Oh, sorry!" Allen said, flailing a bit to stand up straight. He reached a hand down to help Kanda, but the other just gave him a scandalized look and pushed himself up. He drew his hand back; he should've known better, really. Kanda was as reluctant to accept help as he was to give it. He looked around then, at the clothing scattered around his kitchen. "I really didn't mean to…to run into you."

"What kind of idiot means to run into someone?" Kanda asked, frowning. Allen looked back at him, expecting quite the irritated expression to be painting his face. But instead, Kanda still looked confused, and somewhat pinched. He wondered absently what Kanda was confused about.

"Are you alright?" Allen asked slowly.

"Of course I'm alright," Kanda snapped. "Fuck, I'm not made of glass, Moyashi."

"Well, you just had a strange look on your face…" Allen said.

"Shit, just leave it alone, brat," Kanda snapped. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall right behind you," Allen said, pointing. Kanda didn't even give him a second glance, instead just turning around and heading straight for the bathroom. Allen shrugged and began to pick up the clothes again. He didn't even bother trying to fold them this time; he just threw them into the box haphazardly as quickly as possible. When he was finished, he pushed the box back out into the living room.

Kanda was back in the kitchen when he returned for another box. His face was strangely flushed though, and his features were completely relaxed. Allen stopped to stare at him for a moment, unused to seeing Kanda without a scowl, a frown or a combination of the two on his face. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, frowning. "You're acting very strange."

Kanda looked up at him, a half-glazed look in his eyes. "I'm fine, Moyashi," he murmured. "Just get back to packing."

Allen watched as the other man grabbed a box and retreated into the bedroom. He wasn't convinced, no matter what Kanda said. There was something going on with Kanda. He was sure of it.

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Allen was currently shifting through the various mounds of stuff that had been piled into the guest bedroom in Kanda's apartment, trying to find his clothes so he could put them away. Lenalee had called half-way through this adventure, meaning to berate Kanda about his latest damage done to Lavi, but when she'd heard Allen was there, Kanda immediately passed over the phone. "You got evicted today. Kanda, for some reason, was there with you, and he offered to let you stay at his apartment in exchange for cooking. And you…you _agreed?!" _

"You already know the answer, Lenalee," Allen sighed, picking up a stack of t-shirts. He walked over to the bed and set them down next to the pile of pants. "I don't know why this is so hard to believe."

"Allen!" Lenalee said hotly. "It's Kanda!"

"I am perfectly well aware of that fact."

"Kanda!" Lenalee repeated. "Kanda the asshole! Kanda with a stick up the ass! Kanda the rude jerk that you're constantly complaining about! Kanda the giant prick! Kanda the selfish son of a-"

"I'm not constantly complaining about him," Allen said, frowning.

Lenalee laughed outright at that. "Are you kidding me, Allen?" she asked. "You're always going on and on and on about how Kanda is such a jerk to you! I can't ever see you without his name popping up at least once!"

"…really…" Allen said quietly. Did he really mention the other that much? He'd never stopped to think about it. Of course, Kanda was a jerk quite a bit of the time, so there were quite a few things to complain about. But he'd always thought he had kept it to himself.

"Really really," Lenalee said. "I mean, it's not annoying or anything. It's kind of funny actually. Lavi says that Kanda does the same thing whenever he brings you up at work."

"Kanda complains about me?" Allen asked.

"Apparently," Lenalee said. "But you knew that already, considering your relationship with him. Which brings us back to you moving in with him. What up with that?!"

"Too much Nickelodeon, Lenalee," Allen said, wincing. "Too much. Besides, it's not like I'm _moving in_ with him. I'm just staying with him until I can find a new apartment; he was probably just fulfilling his nice thing of the month clause."

"I didn't know he had a contract."

"I'll start searching the house for it," Allen said, laughing a bit.

"But Allen, are you sure this is okay?"

"Of course," Allen said easily. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"…Allen…this is Kanda we're talking about," Lenalee said slowly. "You and Kanda don't always get along very well. I don't want to have to come over there in the middle of the night and take you to the ER if he flips a lid and punches you."

"He's not going to do that, Lenalee," Allen said, smiling faintly.

"And why not?" she asked indignantly. "That man is more volatile than Mt. Vesuvius after a tectonic shift."

"Well, I suppose it's good that I don't live near Pompeii. Besides, I have to work, so it's not like I'll be around him twenty-four/seven," Allen pointed out. "In fact, there's a good chance that we'll only see each other at dinner."

"You're defending him," Lenalee said flatly.

"What?"

"You're taking his side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side, Lenalee," Allen protested, frowning a bit. He really didn't see the big deal here. Yes, he understood that it was _Kanda _and that Kanda never did nice things for people. He didn't know why Kanda had done it, and he was almost positive that the other wasn't going to tell him anything anytime soon. He was beyond trying to figure it out. To be honest, he was so exhausted by all of today's events that he didn't even think his mind could comprehend it at this point. "I'm just saying that I think you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"…you like him, don't you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, if I didn't like him, I wouldn't be living with him," Allen said.

"No, I mean, you like him, Allen," Lenalee said, sighing. "As in, you want him to be your boyfriend."

Allen promptly dropped the phone in shock. "What the fuck, Moyashi?" Kanda demanded. Allen turned over to see the other man sticking his head in the room, an annoyed look on his face. "If you're going to use the damn phone, can you at least not damage it in the process?" He rolled his eyes before walking back down the hallway and into his own bedroom.

Allen mutely bent down and picked the phone up again. "Sorry about that," he said to Lenalee, an embarrassed flush covering his cheeks.

"What did you drop the phone for?" she asked quietly. "Did it slip?"

"Um, not really," Allen said, hastily picking up a pile of shirts and taking them over to the chest of drawers that sat across the room, putting them in the second drawer.

"Then why did you drop the phone?"

"I just…I just wasn't expecting you to say that," Allen muttered.

"Why?"

"It's not exactly something you hear every day!" Allen said hotly. In a quieter tone of voice, he added, "And I do not want him to be my boyfriend!"

"Sure you don't," she said, sounding completely unconvinced.

"Lenalee!"

"You know, the sooner you just accept this fact and move on with your life, the happier you'll be," she pointed out. "And then I can actually help you get together with him! God knows you need all the help you can get, no offense meant."

"I'm not even gay," he protested.

"You don't _know _if you're gay because you've never been in a relationship before," she corrected. "And the last time we talked about this, you said that you didn't know because you'd never really been attracted to anyone that way before. So you have no idea as to what your sexuality is."

"And how do I figure it out?"

"Kiss Kanda," she said bluntly.

"I am not doing that!" he said hotly. "That would be suicide! And I haven't had time to buy a cemetery plot yet, or draw up a will! Not to mention Cross would probably bring me back to life just to torture me…"

"Well, how about you describe how you feel whenever you're around him?" she suggested.

Allen opened his mouth to respond when Kanda yelled at him. He sighed. "Sorry, Lenalee," he said, not really feeling sorry at all, "but I have to go. Kanda's yelling at me."

"Well, you think about your feelings and you can talk to me at work," she said sweetly.

"Yeah, can't wait," he said weakly before hanging up the phone. He didn't understand why everyone kept assuming he liked Kanda. It was so frustrating because he didn't even know what he himself felt. Maybe he _should_ just go up and kiss Kanda. But what if he didn't feel anything? And then there was still the fact that Kanda would probably kill him…

"Oi, Moyashi! Get your fucking ass out here right now, dammit! I won't ask again!"

Allen sighed. "You didn't ask the first time," he muttered. Taking the phone with him, he trudged out to the kitchen. He didn't have time to determine what he felt for Kanda right now. He had to focus on the upcoming mission this Friday. He'd sort his feelings out after that. He had to. Otherwise, the constant nagging would drive him up the wall and out the door.

* * *

For about the millionth time since Allen had moved in with him, Kanda asked himself exactly _why _the hell he'd let the stupid brat into his apartment. Given him keys and a room, no less! It was Thursday night and Allen was still working. Kanda had the night off and was sitting at the kitchen table, where he was _supposed _to be reading a book for his chemistry class. But he couldn't concentrate. And what was occupying his thoughts? The fucking beansprout!

Sighing, he shut the book and threw it behind him, not checking to see what it hit. He had tried to justify why he had let the stupid brat move in with him, but he had come up with nothing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing! Nil, zip, zilch, nada, nothing. And to make things worse, he couldn't get the stupid kid out of his head. In class, he would stare off into space and see the stupid kid's head. At work, the conversation always somehow turned to Allen. Even at night, that stupid white hair and innocent-yet-knowing smile would turn up in his dreams.

And even if none of that disturbed him, what had happened the other day at the kid's old apartment would have. All the brat had done was trip and fall on him. He hadn't been upset by it – though the words mildly annoyed definitely applied – but he had never known it would infect his thoughts like this! The kid was just so…light, and…warm. And the pink flush that had spread across those ivory cheeks… He shook his head angrily, trying to erase those words from his mental vocabulary.

And that didn't even begin to describe the bathroom incident. Luckily, Allen was either naïve enough or too stupid to realize _why _he'd gone to the bathroom. But it certainly didn't ease his own inner turmoil. On one hand, he was disgusted with himself, sickened by it. On the other hand, he found his mind telling him that he didn't really care, that it didn't really matter, and that he should get what he want – and that that was obviously Allen Walker.

The pencil he'd been holding in his hand snapped in two. He blinked and then looked down, seeing the splinters of wood littering his notebook. He dropped the remainder of the pencil in disgust. Scowling, he looked up when he heard a key inserted into the lock on the door. A few seconds later – after a bit of fumbling on the brat's part – Allen burst into the room, looking exhausted. He smiled wearily at Kanda before turning around and closing the door.

"Don't forget to lock it," Kanda reminded him as he started to turn around. Allen paused, and then turned back around to flick both the deadbolt and the lock shut. Then he came and promptly collapsed at the table, dropping the bag he carried his school books in to the floor. He rested his head against the table, his eyes slipping shut. "If you're going to fall asleep, go to your room," Kanda snapped. "I'm not carrying you in there if you black out here."

Allen groaned and sat up straight, rubbing at his face with one of his hands. "Sorry," he muttered. "Long day." Well, wasn't that a coincidence? Kanda had had a rather long day himself. And the reason was sitting right across from him. He watched as Allen pulled out a notebook and a pen; he opened it up to a page filled with numbers and codes, as well as what looked like a hastily drawn map.

"What is that?" Kanda asked suspiciously.

Allen jumped a bit, looking up at him. He blinked once. "Um, nothing," he said quickly. "Just some stuff for the restaurant."

"Bullshit," Kanda snapped. "It's for that job of yours. The secret one." Allen flinched at his tone of voice, but didn't say anything to deny the accusation. "What do you have to do?"

"It's nothing big," Allen said, tracing paths along the map with the end of his pen. "I'll be gone tomorrow night though, and probably won't come back until early Saturday morning. I don't expect you to wait up for me."

"Good," Kanda snorted. "But you didn't answer the question. What do you have to do?"

"I…I'm really not supposed to say anything, Kanda," Allen said. "It _is_ for the government, you know."

"Che, half the problems in this goddamned country are caused by the fucking government keeping secrets," Kanda snorted. "I'm not going to do anything about it. I just want to know what you're doing."

"I'm can't tell you, Kanda," Allen said quietly. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but I really can't tell you."

Kanda stared at him for a moment before deciding to go out on a limb and try something. "It has to do with that NOAH group, doesn't it?" Allen's head shot up, a shocked look on his face. Kanda smirked, knowing he'd just hit the nail on the head. "Rather dangerous, isn't it, Moyashi?"

"I'm not a kid, Kanda," Allen said softly. "I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for almost ten years. But…how do you know about the NOAH?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Tiedoll," he said simply.

"But…he isn't supposed to say anything either, even if he's retired…"

"All that the old fart mentioned was that the NOAH's base is nearby," Kanda clarified. "They're easy enough to find information about if you just look on the fucking internet."

"Oh," Allen said, looking down. "Well, yes, it has something to do with the NOAH. We're planning on infiltrating their base and seeing if we can get any information about their exact goals."

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk about it," Kanda said, smirking.

Allen scowled at him. "For all I know, you've already hacked into my computer and know all about the mission anyway," he said rather crossly. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." He looked down at the table then, his eyes fixing on Kanda's notebook. "What on earth did you do to that pencil?"

Kanda blinked, and then scowled. "I broke it," he said flatly.

"Why?"

"It was being annoying."

"…it's a pencil, Kanda."

"I don't give a fuck right now, Moyashi." He picked up his notebook, letting the broken writing utensil fall onto the table. "I have to leave early in the morning, so I probably won't have to see you again until you're back from playing Power Rangers with Cross."

"What we do is hardly comparable to the Power Rangers, Kanda," Allen said, rolling his eyes.

"Which one are you, the pink one?" Kanda continued.

Allen surprised him by chucking an eraser at his head. He easily caught it though, and let it drop to the table. He raised an eyebrow and stood up then. "How pathetic," he sneered, though his heart wasn't in it. "Try not to die tomorrow night, Moyashi. I don't want to have to be the one they call to come identify the body."

"I'll try my hardest," Allen said sarcastically.

Kanda ignored him and walked into his room, tossing his notebook onto the desk. He closed the door before changing into a pair of pajamas and flopping onto his bed. He laid his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. "Yes," he murmured, "try not to die, Moyashi…don't die."

* * *

Allen could feel Cross staring at him from across the car. This had been happening all night, from the time his _guardian _had picked him up from Kanda's apartment building to now, when they had parked in the woods about a mile away from the NOAH's hideout. He couldn't take it anymore. "What?" he asked finally, not really caring about how rude he sounded.

"I didn't know you changed apartments," Cross said easily. "I know that you're stupid and everything, but I would've thought that even you would recognize that that might be just a _bit _important."

"It was recent," Allen sighed. "I didn't have time to talk to you."

"Why did you move? You can't afford the place you're living at now."

Allen winced at the bluntness of the statement. "I know that," he said. "I didn't want to move. I was asked to leave."

Cross snorted. "Good job, brat, you got evicted," he said. Allen could hear the smirk in his voice, even if he couldn't see it in the darkness. "What'd you do this time, piss off the landlord?"

"I was just busy and forgot to pay the rent," Allen snapped. "And besides, I'm looking for a new place. I'm just staying with Kanda until I-"

"_Kanda?" _Cross repeated. "Who's Kanda?" He paused for a second. "You're not talking about Tiedoll's brat, are you?" Allen didn't respond. "Jesus, kid, you have the worst taste. I always knew you were a fag, but couldn't you at least have picked a fuckbuddy with a few redeeming qualities?"

Allen scowled across the car at the stupid, insufferable man beside him. As much as he hated smoking, he wished the man could light up; smoking tended to mellow him out a bit. He couldn't smoke now, for fear they'd be seen, and was horribly cranky. It was a pain to deal with. "First of all, I don't appreciate being called a fag," he said. "And secondly, Kanda and I are not dating, or…having sex."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

"Doesn't look that way to me."

"Then perhaps you should get your glasses prescription updated."

"Don't smart off to me," Cross warned. He sighed, then moved around a bit. A light lit up the car interior for a moment as Cross stared at his watch. "It's almost midnight," he said softly. "We need to get going." He held a hand out to Allen, who was already way ahead of him. Allen put the golden revolver into the red-head's waiting palm, and then reached back into the glove compartment to get the extra ammunition. They rarely needed it, but better to be safe than sorry.

"You ready?"

"Ready." Allen put a hand on the door handle.

"Good," Cross said, moving to step out of the car. "Let's get this show on the road so we can get you back to your master."

"I'm not a dog," Allen said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, so you're the dominant one?"

"I told you, we're not together."

"Huh."

"Oh, don't start with that."

"Give it a week or so, kid. That bitch wants nothing more than to fuck you through a mattress into the floor."

"I'm not talking to you anymore," Allen said as he shut the car door softly.

"Heh, real mature."

"You have no right to say that."

They met around the front of the car and started walking through the forest quietly. "You know, as your guardian, I'm obliged to give you a sex talk at some point in your life."

"Oh, God, no," Allen groaned.

"You want it now or later?"

"Never."

"Later then."

"I already know how sex works!"

"Che," Cross snorted. "Regardless, I'm having a talk with you later. Now shut up. I think I hear something."

"What?" Allen whispered.

"…eh, it's nothing," Cross said dismissively.

Allen sighed. This was going to be a long night. And it had only begun.

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**And next time...the mission is FINALLY here!! I've been waiting to write this one for weeks, so I'm excited. Also, I changed the description just because this story has gone in an entirely different direction than I thought it would at the beginning. And so it needed to change, lol. Also, I'd mentioned that I was gonna have this be about twenty chapters. Well...I don't know if that's feasible. So, haha, we'll just see where things go. Because I don't want to rush things, you know? Anyways, I shall do some figuring out. But not now. At the moment, Kurt Cobain is rocking my world :D**

**Reviews are - as always!! - much appreciated!!**


	15. Thriller

**Hello again!!**

**I must say, I got this chapter out rather fast!! I can't really say what happened, I just got so into it and it just kept coming and coming until I was done!! And if I do say so myself, I rather like this chapter, even if action scenes aren't really my forte. And it's the longest chapter yet (I think)!! This story is definitely picking up and moving towards the climax now!! I decided to change a few things with the ending, but I think you guys will be more happy this way!! So the next update will probably be in a week or two. Definitely July at the earliest. I need a little break from writing, haha!! But just like a day or so. Then I'll be good again!! **

**And wow. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all in one day? Seriously, I feel so bad. I've been listening to Thriller like non-stop all night. As odd as some people thought he was, I have to say, a great, GREAT musician just passed away. I mean, I practically grew up on 80's music because that was all I was allowed to listen to when I was little, lol. For a long time, Michael Jackson was IT for me. It's so sad to see him go.  
**

**Thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!

* * *

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The building in front of them looked to be an abandoned factory. There were no lights shining through the broken glass of the windows, and the parking lot beside it was quite empty. The bushes by the front doors had long since taken over the steps, and vines had started climbing up the pipes on the side of the building. Allen couldn't help the wry smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth – the place rather resembled his old apartment building, sans lights.

"Where's the entrance?" he asked quietly.

"As far I know, you can only get in through the front," Cross muttered. "But there has to be somewhere to park their cars, which means there has to be a secret entrance near the back." Allen nodded – even during the day, the parking lot couldn't be used. It _was _an abandoned factory, after all. To have cars parking there would be quite suspicious.

"Are they here now?"

"Shouldn't be," Cross said lightly.

"And if they are?"

"Che, just shoot 'em, kid," Cross snorted. "You have a gun for a reason. Or did you forget that you have a license to kill?"

"I don't like killing people," Allen said. To be honest, he'd never killed anybody. Even if he _had _to shoot someone, he generally just tried to hit them in a place that wasn't fatal. Like their foot – you hit a foot, they weren't going anywhere, but they normally wouldn't die either. Hands worked well too.

"Wimp."

"Just because I'm not a sadistic bastard like you, that doesn't make me a wimp," Allen disagreed, rolling his eyes. "What about security cameras?"

"Give me a minute," Cross said, fiddling with a dial on his watch. Allen knew what he was doing. There had been some quite expensive experiments at the government testing facilities that had resulted in a device that could emit a high-pitched noise that produced enough interference with the cameras to allow them inside. It only gave them a window of about ten seconds, but it was long enough. Cross had one of those devices in his watch. "Get ready to run, kid…three…two…go!"

The both of them sprinted out from the cover of the trees, jumping over the perimeters of the parking lot before scampering up to the glass front doors. Luckily, none of the cameras were able to get a clear shot of the door. Allen tried one of the doors, but it was locked. Cross nodded at him once, and he instantly took his set of lock picks out of his pocket. Selecting the one he wanted to use, he knelt down and carefully inserted the piece of metal into the door.

It only took him a minute or so to get the door unlocked. They walked inside carefully. The second set of glass doors wasn't locked at all. What had once been a reception area was now completely decrepit. The ceiling had holes in it, exposing the pipes and electrical wiring. Some of the drop tiles had fallen to the floor, and had broken. One was lying in pieces across the desk. There were a few nasty chairs around the edge of the room and a wilted plant in a corner, but nothing seriously out of place. There were two doors leading out into the actual factory. One read "Warehouse Floor" and the other read "Control Room".

"You take that one," Cross said, pointing to the door to the warehouse. "I'll go see what's in the control room." Allen nodded and turned on the tiny black headset that would allow him to keep in contact with his master. Cross did the same, before covering it with his red hair. Allen shook his head a bit and then headed for the door. He pushed it open easily, revealing a complex pathway of staircases and platforms. All of the machinery in here looked pretty old and otherwise nondescript.

He didn't see anyone in the room, but he still tread across the catwalks carefully, making as little noise as possible. From what he could tell, there was only one other exit in the room, and it was on the opposite side wall. To his surprise, the red exit sign above the door was glowing. He carefully turned his head and looked at the door he'd just come out of. Its own exit sign was dark. Frowning, he reached a hand up to his headset and pressed down the button at its side.

"There's something strange about this room," he murmured softly.

There was a brief pause before Cross responded. "What?"

"There are only two visible exits to the room," Allen explained. "I just came in through the front one, and there's another on the back wall. The exit sign above the one on the far wall is lit up, but the one above the front door isn't."

"Is it broken?"

Allen squinted, trying to get a more accurate view of the exit sign. "It looks perfectly fine to me," he said softly.

"Anything else seem out of place?"

"No," Allen said, barely shaking his head. "It seems like a normal, dilapidated factory building. How about that room?"

"The control panel is active," Cross said suspiciously. "Look to your right." Allen did so, seeing a row of what looked like tinted windows. "I'm behind the windows. I can see you. Can you see me?"

"No."

"Just as I thought," Cross murmured. "This room seems to be in perfect condition. It's not run-down at all. And it seems like we're not the only ones in here."

"Was there someone in that room?" Allen asked quickly.

"Eh, just an idiot guard," Cross muttered. "He's unconscious now."

"That means they'll be others," Allen guessed. "Do you want me to go inspect the next room?"

"Don't get into trouble," Cross warned him. "I think I can see the next room on one of these monitors. There are two guards, one on the right of the door, one to the left. They should be easy enough to take out. I'll stay here for a bit longer, try to figure a few things out, and then I'll come after you." Allen nodded and took his hand away from the headset, walking carefully across the pathway towards the next door. He readied the gun at his side and took a deep breath before flinging the door open.

Sure enough, there were two guards there. They both turned to him in shock when the door opened. Taking full effect of the element of surprise, he used the butt of the gun to knock the first guard unconscious. The other wasn't so easy; he aimed his own gun at Allen. Not wanting the gun to go off and make noise, Allen rushed him, slamming into him with his shoulder. The man grunted and hit him hard across the face. Allen's vision swam for a moment, but he didn't let up. As soon as the dancing hot wings (**A/N: if you get that reference, you totally rock**) cleared from around his head, he quickly brought the gun up to slam into the man's temple. He quickly slumped forward onto Allen.

Allen stepped back, letting the man fall the rest of the way to the floor. He turned quickly to look at the other man, wincing when he stumbled. His vision swam again before returning to normal. He put a hand up to his head; it was wet. Pulling his hand away, he saw his fingertips stained with blood. Looking back to the second guard – moving slower this time – he saw that the man had on a pair of metal-studded gloves. Well, that would explain the blood.

"Oi, kid, you alright?" he heard Cross buzz in from his ear.

He pressed down on the button at the side. "Yes, I'm fine," he said. "One of the guards just had on a pair of studded gloves."

"Yeah, well, try not to pass out from blood loss," Cross huffed. "Head wounds always bleed like a bitch."

Allen took the opportunity to sit down in a chair at the side of the wall. It was obvious that this room wasn't really a room at all, but a hallway. There weren't really any doors leading off to the side. There was just what looked to be an elevator at the end of the hallway. "There's an elevator at the end of this hallway," he quickly relayed to Cross. "I'm guessing that's where we're trying to get."

"Well, well, maybe you aren't as stupid as you look," Cross snorted. "I'll be there in a minute. I've learned all I can from this crappy information database. Thing was ridiculously easy to crack." Allen smirked; that reminded him of Kanda, and his stupid hacking ways. He wondered then if Kanda would ever go into the spy career; after all, his father could give him an automatic in. _He would be good at it, _Allen thought wryly. "How's the head?"

Cross's question brought him out of his thoughts. "Stings a bit, but I've had worse," Allen said easily.

"Still bleeding?"

"It's calmed down a bit," Allen said. "It's really just a scratch."

"It had better just be that," Cross warned. "I'm not dragging your sorry ass all over this factory."

Allen sighed quietly and sat back in the chair, waiting for the other to come to him. It only took a minute or two. Cross took one look at him and rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath that Allen was sure was some form of insult. He stood up and they walked down the hall to the elevator.

"Now, listen up, squirt," Cross grunted.

"I'm not a squirt!" Allen protested hotly.

"You're barely pushing five-six, kid," Cross retorted. "If I call you a squirt, you're a squirt. Now shut up. There are four floors to this place. We're on the first floor. The second floor's too dangerous to even bother looking at. The first basement is just the warehouse floor. The second basement is where their operations are. When we get there, follow my lead and don't do anything stupid."

Allen rolled his eyes at that, but didn't say anything. He knew better than to annoy Cross when they were on a mission, not to mention when the other was in a cranky mood. He instead pressed the down button on the elevator, which promptly opened. They stepped inside and Cross pressed the button for the basement. The doors easily slid shut and then they were heading down.

Allen found himself slightly nervous as the doors slid open again. Luckily, there was no one around. The two of them quickly exited the elevator and out of sight of the only other exit to the room – a long white hallway. True to Cross's prediction, the basement looked to be more modern than the rest of the factory. It was eerily quiet, except for the quiet whirring of the machines that were sure to be in the other rooms. Across the room was a desk, as well as a computer, but there wasn't anybody there at the moment.

"So, what are we looking for exactly?" Allen murmured.

"Any information you can find," Cross said flatly. "I've already hacked the system, so there's no need to look on the computers. We're looking for physical files, receipts, letters, that kind of shit. Got it?" Allen nodded. "I'm going to head to the main office. You see if you can find anything out here." Allen nodded again and waited for the red-headed man to slip around the corner before slinking over to the desk.

He sat down in the chair and quickly looked at the stacks of papers on the desk. From what he knew about the NOAH – and not much was known – they were a group of terrorists set on obtaining nuclear weapons in order to achieve their ends. Of course, what those ends _were_ wasn't really known. Hence, this assignment by the government. They had apparently been in contact with unpredictable countries such as North Korea and Iran, but no definite plans had been learned of.

He sorted through the papers quickly, finding several of interest. There were several receipts for various parts required for making nuclear weapons. Those he slipped inside a pocket of his dark jacket. He also found a list of what appeared to be faculty.

One thing that he noticed was that most of the people in charge seemed to all be related. It was really quite baffling. The head seemed to be a man known merely as the Millennium Earl. All of the other members of NOAH – or at least, the important ones – were his "children". He pocketed the list of members and went on to search through the desk drawers. Of course, they were locked, so he had to pick them. There didn't seem to be much of any significant value in them.

With a sigh, he closed the last drawer and sat up straight. To his surprise, he found someone staring at him. It looked to be a little girl of perhaps ten, twelve years, with spiky black hair and gleaming golden eyes. He had seen eyes like that somewhere before…but he couldn't seem to remember where. They made him uneasy. He quickly scanned the little girl's body, to see if she was concealing a weapon of some sort, but he didn't see any.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked, tilting her head at him. She pulled a lollipop out of a pocket and stuck it in her mouth, sucking on the top part. "D'you work here?"

"Not quite," he said softly, reaching up to press a different button on his headset – one that would let Cross know that there was a situation, and to be on the alert. Her golden eyes followed his hand, so he quickly messed his hair up a bit to make it look like a nervous gesture. It apparently worked, because she didn't say anything.

"What'd you do to your head?" she asked, pointing to the blood. He looked down to see that part of his jacket was soaked with the substance as well. Well, that was definitely worth a trip to the cleaner's.

"It was an accident," he said smoothly. "I just tripped."

"No, you didn't," she said, smirking at him.

He blinked. "I didn't?"

"Of course not!" she said easily, hopping up onto the desk to lean closer to him. "Are you one of Cross's friends?" She pulled the lollipop out of her mouth then, preferring to lick it.

"I wouldn't call him my friend," Allen said truthfully.

"Well, that's good," she said, "considering that he's about to die."

"Die?" he asked quickly. "What are you talking about?"

She reached out then and grabbed him by his hair, bringing her face forward to his. "You didn't really think this factory was completely abandoned, did you?" she snickered. "I live here!"

He yanked away suddenly, getting out the chair and standing up. She giggled at his antics. "Who else is here?" he asked flatly.

"My cousins," she said happily. She threw the lollipop into a trash can beside the desk then, apparently tired of it. "David and Jasdero, that's their names. They're probably killing your friend right now."

Allen snorted. "I don't know," he said easily. "Cross isn't an easy man to kill. I would know."

"Oh, have you tried before?" she asked. "You know, if you joined us, you'd get all the chances in the world to kill him!"

"No thanks," he said, smiling weakly. "I don't think there's anything in this world that will ever be able to kill him. Except perhaps cirrhosis of the liver."

"So you won't join us?" she asked plaintively, sticking her bottom lip out.

"I'm afraid not."

"That's too bad," she said, sighing. "You're pretty cute." She stood up then and jumped off the desk. "You'd better run though." She smiled deviously. "They'll be here in a minute."

"Who?"

"_Them,_" she whispered, giggling.

Suddenly, the elevator door opened, revealing another fresh group of guards. Allen cursed and sprinted down the hallway, trying to find a better place to fight. He could hear gunshots being fired behind him, but couldn't afford to stop and shield himself. Luckily, it wasn't easy to hit a running target, especially once said target began running erratically. He could hear the little girl laughing from behind him.

He found an open door and easily ran inside, luckily finding an opposite door on the other wall. He yanked it open and ran inside before slamming it shut and locking it. He pressed the button on his headset. "Where are you?!" he whispered hotly.

"Kid," was the grunted reply, "I'm a bit busy here!"

"What do we do?!"

"Get out, what the fuck else?!"

Allen heard several gunshots fired in rapid procession from Cross's end of the line. He swallowed anxiously. "Are there any other exits to this godforsaken building?!"

"Try a window," Cross snapped.

"What window?!" Allen snapped back. "We're in a basement!" He cursed again when something heavy hit the door to the room he was currently in. He looked around wildly; luckily, there appeared to be an air duct that led somewhere else. Using the thick, hardened nails of his left hand, he unscrewed the grate of the air vent and quickly climbed inside. Luckily, it was a rather narrow vent, so only the slimmest of people would be able to get through. Just in case, though, he put the grate back up. It was just hanging on by a thread, so if it was touched, it would probably fall, but hopefully he'd be long gone by then.

He scampered as quickly as possible along the vent. When the passage abruptly stopped, he looked up. Sure enough, the vent was going up. He stood up and put a hand on each side of the vent. Using the leverage, he raised his feet and put his back against the back panel. It wasn't easy, but he began climbing up then. When he got to another side passage, he immediately took it. It now looked as if he was above several rooms. The grates were to the bottom now, and not along the side. He looked out of the second such one he came to.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the room, so he quickly turned around and used his feet to force the grate off the vent. It crashed onto the ground below, making a louder noise than he would've cared for. He then lowered himself out and finally dropped to the floor. He stood up quickly and looked around. He didn't see anyone, and so headed for the only door in the room. He tried the handle, but to his frustration, it too was locked. He put a hand in his pocket to reach for his picks.

"Leaving so soon?"

He whirled around, startled, and his breath caught in his throat. "You…" he said, trailing off. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," the man said, rising to his feet. He quickly extinguished his cigarette and came around the front of the desk. "I see that you aren't wearing my coat."

"I just moved," Allen said quickly, "and I haven't really finished unpacking." Of course that was a lie. But who cared? The man just smiled at him indulgently, as if he knew that Allen wasn't telling the truth. It was then that Allen noticed the yellow eyes - the same as the little girl's. _This _was where he'd seen them before. The two must've been related.

"But on to your question," the man said smoothly. "I happen to work here. Now, the more appropriate question is: why have _you _broken into this place, when it is clearly after business hours?"

"Maybe the fact that your _business _is against the law would ring a few bells," Allen suggested, a hand straying absently to his side, where he kept his gun. He began wracking his brain for this man's name, trying to remember him.

"Oh, you wound me," the man said, wincing rather mockingly. "I don't do anything illegal. That's the Earl's job." He smirked. "We're all just little pawns in his game."

"I highly doubt that, Mr. Mikk," Allen said wryly, chancing mentioning a name.

"Ah, you remember me!" the man said, a delighted smile lighting up his handsome features. "And you're Mr. Walker!"

"Well, as lovely as this reunion is, I really must be going," Allen said.

"The door's locked," the other reminded him.

"I can pick it," Allen informed him.

The other quickly pulled a gun out from his side, cocked it and aimed at Allen's head. "And I can kill you just as easily," the man said smoothly. Allen stopped moving. "Take out your gun," the other instructed, pointing to Allen's side. "Put it on the floor and kick it towards me."

Allen slowly took the gun out of its holster and bent down to set it on the floor. Taking a deep breath, he then stood back up. But instead of gently kicking it, he kicked it hard, right near the trigger, setting it off. He'd always had a tricky gun - now it's volatile nature came in handy.

"Shit!"

Allen didn't waste time to see if he'd hit the other man before he used his left hand to smash the window of the door and unlock it from the other side. He yanked it open and ran off down the hallway. He couldn't really tell where he was. It looked like the same hallway he'd originally ran down, but he couldn't tell for sure. He heard the door behind him bang open.

Several gunshots rang out from behind him. They all flew by his head by the narrowest of margins. As the hallway ended, he quickly turned right down another. He recognized this hall – now he was in the main hallway. He saw Cross standing in the middle of the elevator room, shooting left and right. Dead bodies littered the hallway.

Allen bent down to pick up one of their guns and set about getting back to his master's side. They were going to have to take the elevator to get out of here, and they would need time for it to open and close, time they didn't really have at the moment.

He cried out in pain as something struck his left arm. He looked down to see the skin cut and bleeding. A bullet had grazed the skin, ripping a hole in his jacket pocket and practically rendering the arm useless. He turned around with the gun, shooting out random bullets back down the hall. He heard a curse from the distance and used the brief moment to get to the red-head.

"'Bout time you showed up, kid," Cross grunted. "Where you been?"

"One of the commanders caught me," Allen responded. He watched as Cross shot down the last of the guards remaining in the room. Cross didn't waste any time, running to the elevator and pressing the up button. As soon as the doors were open, the two of them dashed inside and forced the doors shut. Cross pushed the button for the very top floor, to Allen's surprise. "Why the top floor?"

"They'll suspect that we'll head for the first floor," Cross grunted in response. "The top floor is our safest bet." He looked down and noticed Allen's arm then. "You'd best bind that up before you faint from blood loss."

Allen looked down at his arm, inspecting the wound. It wasn't too bad, but it hurt like hell. He'd had worse. He quickly tore off the remainder of the bottom half of his left sleeve and made a quick tourniquet, binding his arm tight. No sooner was he finished than the doors dinged open. Cross pressed the button for the first floor then and they dashed out. Now, hopefully the others would think they'd stopped at the first floor.

The top floor of the building was as deserted as Cross had said. They ran to the back of the building, avoiding the holes in the floor and the random debris. Luckily, there was already a fairly large hole in the wall. Cross nodded at him before easily jumping out. It wasn't a long jump, so the red-head easily managed to roll his way out of the jump. Allen followed his lead, wincing when his shoulder jarred on the landing.

Instead of running towards their car, they just headed for the woods about fifty feet away. Once they were sufficiently out of sight, they slowed down and began to make their way towards where their car was. Allen's heart was hammering in his chest. He couldn't hear anybody following them, or any recognition that anything was wrong at the factory, but he couldn't help his nerves being on the edge. It didn't help that adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, taking the edge off the pain and sending him into a state of hyper-awareness.

After about ten minutes of romping around in the woods, they came back to Cross's car. They quickly got inside before finally managing to catch a breather. Allen leaned his head back against the seat, the toll of the evening's actions – and wounds – finally catching up with him. Cross started the car and quickly turned off the lights. He backed out of the clearing smoothly and went back down the path they had taken to get the car here.

They arrived out on a side road that would lead to an interstate. Luckily, they wouldn't have to drive past the factory. It wasn't until they were on said interstate that Cross finally turned on his headlights. Allen didn't even berate him for being such a reckless driver.

"Oi, kid, you alright?" Cross asked suddenly, in a low voice.

"I'm fine," Allen murmured.

"…you need a hospital?"

"I'll be fine," Allen reasserted. "The head wound's just a scratch, really, and the other's just a nick. I'll bandage it up when I get back home and just keep it clean." Thinking of something, he frowned. "You know…I thought you'd said I needed to memorize that piece. What the hell for?"

"This," Cross said, chucking a small flash drive at his head. Allen picked it up and stared at it. "That is a copy of some kind of musical therapy that the NOAHs' are trying to develop."

"Musical therapy?"

"Ever heard of Hitler's sound wave program during War World II?"

"The one where he was going to try to control people by sound waves?" Allen asked. Cross nodded curtly. "I thought that was just a myth."

"Yeah, well no one knows about that for sure," Cross said, shrugging. "But apparently, the NOAHs heard about it, and are trying to recreate it. But instead of using just sound waves, they're going to use music with the auditory version of subliminal messages included to attempt to control people."

"Like hypnosis?"

"Similar."

"So you need me to compare this music with the music you had me memorize?" Allen guessed. Cross nodded again as he took the exit for their city. "And then you want me to note the differences, if any, and write a score for the music on this drive?"

"And then I want you to compare the final score you get with Score A."

"…I see," Allen said, tucking the drive into a pocket.

"What did you manage to find?"

"Several things, actually," Allen said, reaching inside his jacket. "There was a list of the head commanders of the organization. Apparently, they are all members of the NOAH family. The guards don't count; they're just peons. And they all have specific duties." He moved onto the receipts he'd found. "These are all receipts for items that, when combined, can be used to form nuclear reactors."

"So not only auditory hypnosis, but nuclear weapons," Cross said. He whistled. "Hot damn. You gotta give the guys credit – they have style." He turned onto the street of Allen's new apartment. "Put 'em in the glove compartment." Allen did so before quickly surveying the other. Cross didn't appear to have any injuries, other than minor cuts and scrapes. He found himself slightly envious.

The red-head parked smoothly by the curb. "Well, not bad tonight, kid, not bad," Cross said, smirking. "Try not to bleed too much when you head in. Doesn't look good on the carpet." Allen glared at him before stepping outside. He slammed the door shut behind him before walking into the building.

He sighed as he waited for the elevator to approach. It was close to two in the morning, and all he wanted was to bandage himself up and then go to sleep. Thank God he didn't have to work until tomorrow night so he'd have some time to sleep in and perhaps get a head start on his work while Kanda was at class. He didn't think his new roommate would care for him playing the same piece of music over and over.

The doors dinged open and he walked out into the hallway, heading slowly but surely for Kanda's place. He fiddled with his keys for a minute before finally letting himself in. The lights were dimmed, but not completely off just yet. He stepped inside and removed his rather dirty shoes before closing and locking the door. He shrugged out of his jacket, wincing as it caught the tourniquet, and hung it up on the coat rack. He'd been surprised that Kanda had a coat rack, but apparently it had come with the apartment – its former owner had left it behind and hadn't ever come back for it.

He shuffled into the kitchen then, and headed for the guest bedroom. Well, he supposed that now it was rightfully _his _and not the guest's. He put his gloves down on the dresser and simply put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a plain white undershirt before heading to the bathroom to see what Kanda had in the way of first aid. Surprisingly, there were bandages, gauze, and antiseptic. He also grabbed a pair of tweezers in case there were fragments of the bullet embedded in the skin. A bottle of painkillers came too.

He then moved into the kitchen, setting the supplies down on the table. Making a quick decision, he opened up the bottle of Advil and grabbed two before going to get a drink. He was sure that he'd need them by the time he was finished cleaning up. After setting the empty cup down in the sink, he went to take a seat at the table, pulling the bandages, tweezers and antiseptic towards him.

With a sigh, he finally set about to inspecting the wound. The tourniquet had managed to suppress most of the blood flow, and it was now clotting nicely. He set the ruined piece of fabric down on the table before inspecting the damage. He frowned; it looked as if Mr. Tyki Mikk liked using the old-fashioned bullets that shattered upon impact. The biggest part had gone right past him; it was the few tiny fragments he saw glimmering against the red of exposed muscle that had him sighing. He moved to pick up the tweezers.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Allen turned slowly to see Kanda standing in the doorway to the living room, a frown on his face. He was wearing pajamas, his hair tied back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. "Nothing much," Allen said softly. "I'm just cleaning up my wounds before I head to bed. Why aren't you asleep?"

"You woke me up when you banged in here," Kanda said grumpily, walking over to the table. He stared down at Allen's arm as the latter removed the first piece of bullet shrapnel with a wince. "You got shot."

Allen looked up at Kanda's surprised tone of voice. The other was staring at his arm. "Yes, I did," he affirmed. "Luckily, it just grazed the-"

"You got fucking _shot,_" Kanda interrupted. "With a _gun._"

"Well, it if had been a missile, I don't think I'd be here right now," Allen said wryly, removing the next piece. This one hurt more than the first – his vision swam in and out and he had to focus on not fainting. He groaned.

To his surprise, Kanda pulled out the chair next to him and sat down before yanking the tweezers out of his hand. "If you need help, just ask for it, retard," he snapped. "You're going to make yourself faint." The dark-haired man then set about to removing the rest of the shards, putting them in a neat line on the table. Allen was grateful for the help; Kanda may not have been gentle, but he was certainly quick and efficient.

When he was finished removing the pieces, Kanda then grabbed a piece of gauze and poured some of the antiseptic on it. Allen hissed when the alcohol touched the wound; it stung like a bitch! "Quit whining," Kanda snapped.

"It hurts!" Allen protested.

"Unless you want your already fucked-up arm turning black with gangrene, I suggest you get over it," Kanda retorted. "Besides, I'm finished." He took away the now stained piece of gauze and grabbed the bandages. He quickly wrapped them around Allen's arm before tying it off.

"When do you learn to dress wounds so well, Kanda?" Allen asked quietly.

"The old man's a spy, or was," Kanda murmured. "He taught me all kinds of useless shit like this. Marie was always better at this kind of work. I was better at the physical part of it." He then frowned at the wound on Allen's head. "What did you do, run into a cabinet?"

Allen rolled his eyes. "A guy hit me on the head," he explained. "He was wearing studded gloves."

"Who the fuck wears studded gloves anymore?" Kanda muttered.

"Well, thank you for helping me, Kanda," Allen said, standing up slowly and beginning to gather up the pieces of bullet. Once they were all in his hands, he moved to throw them away. When he turned around, Kanda had stood up as well, and had picked up all the medical supplies. "Oh, don't worry, Kanda, I can get those." He stepped forward, reaching out with his good hand.

"Che, you can barely stand," Kanda smirked. "You're practically dead on your feet. Just go to bed, Moyashi."

"But-"

"No buts," Kanda snapped, scowling at him. "It's two in the fucking morning, you're a mess, and I would like to go back to bed. No arguments."

Allen sighed, a faint smile tracing his lips. "Thank you, Kanda."

"Don't thank me. Just go to bed."

"I'm leaving," Allen said, turning around and slowly beginning to walk to the bedroom. Once he was there, he half-shut the door and drew the curtains across the window. He didn't want the sun to disrupt his sleeping in tomorrow. He quickly crawled into the bed, lying down gingerly to not disturb his arm. His eyes slipped shut almost immediately as he breathed out a sigh of contentment. Well, there was another mission down.

And what did you know? He was still alive. It was a good day.

* * *

Tyki Mikk watched as the Earl walked around the dead bodies and debris from the crossfire that littered his office. The fat man wasn't saying anything, merely observing. That wasn't good: that meant that his boss was _very, very _mad. He chose not to say anything, instead opting to run his fingers through his now messy head of curls.

"You suck!"

"No, you suck! You're the one who let him get away!"

"You're the fucktard who got us locked in the closet!"

"Me?! You're the one who couldn't open the door!"

Tyki sighed as he looked across the room at the twins David and Jasdero, who were currently in each other's faces, arguing. "Would the both of you shut up?" he asked, bored. God, he needed a cigarette. He reached into his pocket and picked one out, lighting it before taking a long drag. "You're both idiots, and it's both of your faults that Cross escaped."

"Oh, yeah?!" David said hotly. "Then whose fault was it that the other brat got away?!"

"Yeah!" Jasdero piped up. "You! It was you!"

"Shut up, all of you!"

The three of them looked up to see another member of their family, Lulubell, glaring at them coldly. "You are all complete imbeciles who cannot do anything properly," she snapped. "You two are the biggest idiots of the entire family. You can't do anything right! And you," she rounded on Tyki, "are a lousy shot with that gun. Honestly, do you never practice?"

"I don't like guns," Tyki drawled. "They're loud and messy, and much too quick."

"With your aim, I wouldn't be so hasty about the quick part," she said scathingly. Her eyes then flicked over to the Earl, who had turned around to face them now. "My Lord Earl, has anything been taken?"

"Nothing of consequence," he said quietly. "But you are all a bunch of clowns. Didn't anyone tell you this isn't a circus?" He laughed then, but it sounded much too forced to be real. "Did you get anything at all?"

"I got his hat!" Jasdero said suddenly, holding up a nice black hat. Everyone stared at him then, including David, like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "What?!" he demanded.

"Did anyone get anything _important_?" the Earl clarified.

"There is a child named Allen Walker," Tyki said quietly, "that I think we should be careful of." The Earl turned to look at him. "Rhode mentioned that she saw him earlier. She is quite taken with him, which means that there is something quite strange about him."

"She didn't go after him herself?" Lulubell asked, surprised. Tyki shook his head. "But…she loves hunting down people!"

"Which is exactly why Walker is special," Tyki said, smirking. The Earl laughed then.

"Allen Walker, eh? Oh, my dear Tyki, you must tell me more!"

"I would be delighted to, my Lord Earl."

* * *

**Whoo, long chapter!! **

**So yes, I have a tiny favor to ask!! Like I said earlier, I don't think action scenes are my forte. Of course, it could just be me overanalyzing things as I tend to do, but hey, everyone is their own worst critic, eh? So, if you want, tell me some things you'd like me to change or include on the next action scene!! Because there will be more, and naturally, I want to improve as best as I can. **

**Also, we're almost to 500 reviews!! You guys have been so good to me with these reviews, and I sincerely appreciate everything you guys say!! I can't even thank you guys enough just for reading!! Hopefully this chapter makes up for the transition chapters I've given you up til this point. I hope you like it!!**

**Don't forget to review :D !!  
**


	16. My Plague

Shit, these chapters keep getting longer and longer!!

I swear, I don't really intend for them to become this long. I just start writing and sometimes I don't think they're very long, so I keep going and adding more sections until I realize that the chapter really IS getting long and so I need to stop. But I suppose you guys would prefer longer chapters, right? I know I do, when I read fanfiction. So, anyways!! Thanks for the feedback you guys gave me about the last chapter!! I've decided that for the next chapter, which is going to be another action scene, or at least a part of one, I'm going to flip back and forth between characters so that you guys get equal time with Allen and Kanda. And since there was barely any Kanda last chapter, there's mostly Kanda this time :D I was planning on waiting until later to post this chapter, but since everyone seemed to want it ASAP, I just thought what the hell, I'll post it now.

Also, I want to take the time to thank all those people who review, especially those who review on a regular basis!! But I also want to thank the anonymous reviewers from this past chapter: **K, '[Rabbits Galore]', Trainsaya, Moomba, **and **Chibi Chimi-Chan**. Even though I can't respond to you guys, I really do appreciate everything you guys say!! So thanks for reviewing!!

And I want to thank the wonderful **Dr. Composed** for beta-ing this for me!! I think not having to edit this by myself really helped in getting it out there faster :D

* * *

"So…" Lavi casually flicked to another page of the magazine he was reading, not wanting to look up at Kanda just yet. "I heard that you let Allen move in with you. That's mighty nice of you, Yuu-chan!"

Kanda glared down at the red-head. Lavi still wasn't looking at him, the stupid coward. "And what of it, retard?" he demanded, forcing himself to look away at the security monitors so that he wouldn't want to maim the other beyond repair. Because then Lenalee would get mad at him, and Komui would surely fire him. And he did need a job, especially since he had to help support a stupid beansprout whose stomach had to be a rip in the space-time continuum.

"You wouldn't let me move in with you if I got evicted," Lavi said, pouting.

"That's because you're an annoying idiot," Kanda pointed out. "Besides, you could just go live with your grandfather. It's not like you don't have any money. Your situations are entirely different."

Lavi snickered then. Kanda looked back at him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "You've sure worked up a good list of excuses, Yuu-chan," he remarked, flipping another page in his magazine.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kanda demanded with a scowl.

Lavi sighed and closed his magazine then, flipping it up onto the counter. "Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan," he muttered, shaking his head. When he looked back up at Kanda, he had a knowing kind of smile on his face. "You've got it bad, my friend. I don't know how you don't see it! It's so obvious!"

Kanda frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you not to use that fucking name?" he muttered. "And what the hell are you talking about?"

"You _like _Allen!"

Kanda sighed. "We've gone over this before, you moron," he said, looking back to the monitors. He was bored once more; he had thought that perhaps his idiotic coworker might actually have something mildly interesting to say, but he had been proved wrong once again. "I'm not gay, and I don't like the stupid Moyashi."

"You know, as much as you keep saying that, I really don't believe you," Lavi said, smiling gleefully. "Because, of course, you're not ever gonna tell me who you like regardless of whether it's a guy or a girl. Everybody denies their first crush."

"What makes you think I've never liked anyone before?" Kanda asked, frowning. He refused to say the word crush – he was no teenage girl, and did not have _crushes _because the word crush implied that you would get rejected – thus crushed – when the other got a good glimpse of you. He was _not _rejected.

Lavi was silent for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "You – did not – seriously just ask that!" he crowed, slapping a hand to his knee. Kanda just stood there stiffly, glaring at the other. When the red-head finally had himself under control, he expanded by saying, "Come on, Yuu-chan, you can't even bear to talk to most people! You don't like people that way!"

"Then why do you think I like the brat that way?"

"I dunno," Lavi said thoughtfully, putting a hand to his chin. "I can't really say. There's just something in the way you talk about him, the nice things you do for him, even the way you say his name…"

"The way I say his name?" Kanda repeated, his nose crinkling up in disgust. "I don't say his real name." And besides, it wasn't like he went around moaning _moyashi _at the end of every sentence.

"It's not the actual name," Lavi said, shaking his head, "it's in the emotions behind the insults." Kanda blinked in confusion. "Every time you talk about him, you sound both frustrated and enamored of him. There's anger – heh, you're angry at everything, you know – of course, but it's never really directed _at _Allen. You sound scolding, too, like you're talking to your kid."

"I hate kids," Kanda snapped.

"Oh, believe me, I know," Lavi said, chuckling. "Remember that time you almost punched the kid who was throwinggummy bears at the woolly mammoth exhibit?" He broke out into a short fit of giggles for a minute before regaining his composure. "You almost broke his jaw!"

"He was asking for it," Kanda snarled. "Just get on with whatever the hell you're trying to say already and stop wasting my time!"

"Since you're so busy," Lavi drawled. "Anyways, it's obvious that you care about the kid, Kanda. You get so defensive any time someone says anything! And I think that with all the times you've gone to help him out, you at least like him to some degree."

"I do not get defensive," Kanda said stubbornly.

"Yes, you do!" Lavi snorted. "You are right now!"

"I am not defensive," Kanda persisted.

"Yes, you are," Lavi said calmly, picking his magazine up again and propping his feet up on the top of the counter. "You are being stubborn and defensive about this entire conversation – which**,** by the way, totally isn't helping your argument that you don't like Allen! I mean, if you were just ignoring me, or brushing me off, then maybe I might believe you when you say you don't care, but you're obviously just denying everything I say, and that is the first clue that you really don't mean what you say! I mean, come on, Yuu-chan, I'm a psychology major! If I know nothing else, I know how the human mind works!"

Kanda tuned Lavi out after that. It was getting to be unbearable. He didn't want to hear the idiot prattle on and on about how much he really had to like Allen, in _that sexual _way. To be honest, he was even starting to think that himself. That would explain why he kept seeing the stupid brat in his dreams, why he kept having those dirty kind of thoughts about the kid, about why he had taken to avoiding him except for when he absolutely had to stick around. But it didn't explain why he had been so worried when he'd come home the other night to find out Allen had been shot.

"I know that you don't know how to act because this is the first time you've ever liked another human being, but don't worry," Lavi kept going on. "I mean, I can totally help you with that! And don't worry about Allen being a guy, because none of us really care about that stuff anyways! And I mean, we've all done a little experimentation in our days, eh?"

"Stop right there!" Kanda snapped, finally having gotten fed up with having to listen to Lavi prattling on and on about _sexual experimentation_ of all things! "So what if I like the stupid Moyashi?! For God's sake, just shut the fuck up already about your stupid psychology bullshit! You couldn't possibly understand what goes through my head! And don't _ever _talk to me about sexual experimentation ever again! Got that?!"

"Yuu-chan…"

"And I don't care what you or anyone else thinks about the fact that I like a guy!" Kanda continued, too far gone to even realize that people were starting to stare. Lavi looked surprised, but he didn't say anything. "I never wanted your opinion anyways! Itisn't worth jackshit! Who _would_ care?! You'd fuck anything that walks by, as long as it's got a pair of breasts! Goddammit, just stay the hell out of my personal life and let me handle this on my own!"

His tirade over, Kanda grabbed his wallet and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Yuu-chan…"

"What?!" Kanda demanded hostilely, turning around to glare at the red-head.

"You really like Allen, don't you?"

Kanda stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Yes, Lavi, I do." He collapsed into a nearby chair, propping his chin up on his hand. "Go ahead and say whatever the fuck you want. Just don't tell the kid."

"I'm not gonna tell Allen," Lavi said quietly. "I may like pulling pranks and shit, but I stay out of people's love lives. But…what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," Kanda snapped. "I'm sure he doesn't like me back."

"And why not?"

Kanda glared up at him darkly. "You know I'm not exactly Mr. Rogers," he said. "What on earth is there for the brat to like?"

"Well…you're attractive, I guess." Kanda let loose a noise that could only be described as a growl and Lavi winced, backing up in his chair. "Alright, alright! Why would Allen like you?" He stopped to think about it for a second, but after a minute of silence and no forthcoming remark, Kanda just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Exactly," he muttered. "You can't come up with a good reason."

"No, I can't," Lavi agreed. "But Allen's special, Yuu-chan. He's not like other people his age. He sees things that other people don't. Maybe he sees something in you that you don't see yourself." Kanda raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't tell me I'm wrong! You know how he's always able to see the good in people!"

"Whatever," Kanda said, standing up. He couldn't take much more of this let's-sit-down-and-talk-about-our-feelings bullshit. It was bad enough that he'd admitted the truth he'd discovered only a few days ago – that he liked Allen Walker. He certainly didn't want to discuss it to a Dr. Phil wannabe who had an issue of Cosmopolitan open in his lap. "I'm taking my break."

"Don't stay away too long, Yuu-chan!"

Kanda didn't respond to that as he pushed open the front door to the museum and starting walking briskly down the street. He didn't really have a particular place that he wanted to go; it was cold outside, and he needed the cold air to clear his head. He'd forgotten his coat, so he just stuffed his hands in his pocket and tried his best to ignore the cold. He stopped absently at a street corner and leaned against a telephone pole. People shot him odd looks, but he didn't pay them any attention.

He wondered if it was truly possible for the Moyashi to like him. What Lavi had said about the kid managing to see the good in everybody was true; he would admit that. But from what Allen had told him previously, the kid didn't even know if he was gay, had never been in a relationship before, and to top all of that off, he was still a fucking _virgin._ Kanda himself wasn't one for relationships, but fuck, he'd thought everyone had meaningless sex every now and then.

He sighed. The kid didn't have to work tonight. Maybe he'd get a chance to get some answers out then. He didn't want to try anything though. He still wasn't sure whether he just _wanted _Allen or if he wanted to be _with _Allen. There was a big difference. The only thing was…he was pretty sure that were only a few ways to ascertain the truth. And they all involved doing something to Allen. Either that, or pushing Allen in front of a car. And he would never hear the end of that.

* * *

"So who do you think is hotter, me or Kanda?"

"Lenalee!" Allen turned around, giving her a scandalized look.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's a simple question, Allen."

Allen sighed and picked up his tray of drinks. He quickly took them to the proper table, refilling several others on his way back to the bar, where Lenalee was easily serving drinks. "So, what's your answer?" she asked as soon as he was within hearing distance.

He sighed again. "Lenalee, I don't honestly think of you or Kanda that way," he said. "You guys are my friends!"

She huffed, slightly annoyed, and reached down to pick something up. Allen frowned at what she was doing and took a few steps closer to her. He was startled when she stood up rather quickly, holding what appeared to be a yearbook. She opened it up to a picture of her, wearing her tiny, spandex track team uniform and grinning at the camera, and shoved it in his face. That was when she'd insisted on wearing pigtails every day. Now she'd updated her hair a bit.

"What is this?" he asked, pushing the book back with a finger.

"This is me in my prime!" she explained. "I had the best body my sophomore through senior years of high school! I don't run as much anymore so I don't look as good now."

"Lenalee, you still look fine," Allen assured her. "You're not fat."

"Why, thank you," she said brightly. "But do you get anything out of looking at the picture?"

He blinked. "Should I?" he asked.

She sighed and turned the yearbook around, flipping to a different page. When she found the one she wanted, she easily flipped it around again. Allen stared at the page, gasping when he finally recognized the guy in the pictures – who was sweaty and quite shirtless. Kanda, who was apparently the state high school champion in fencing, was standing with his back to the camera, his shirt off and his hair only held back in a low ponytail. You could see the arrogance in his eyes as he looked over his shoulder at the camera, smirking.

"W-well," Allen finally managed to say, "t-that's an interesting p-picture. Where'd you get it?"

Lenalee laughed then. "Allen, it's the school yearbook!" she said. "You were only a freshman when Lavi and Kanda were seniors, so it's likely that you never saw them, but we went to the same high school!"

"I've never seen that picture before," Allen said, looking away to the kitchen to see if any of his tables' orders were up yet. To his dismay, they weren't.

"You're awfully red, Allen," Lenalee said.

"I am not!" Allen said indignantly, turning back around to face her.

"Do you want a mirror?" she asked, smirking.

He huffed. As much as he might deny it, he could tell that his face was probably just as red as Lenalee claimed. "No, I do not want a mirror," he said.

"You like him, Alanna," Lenalee said, changing names as a red-headed waitress came up to help work the bar – it was now officially happy hour. "It's nothing to be ashamed of! Everyone gets it bad for someone eventually!"

"Oh, you like someone?" the waitress asked, smiling as she grabbed a bottle of vodka and one of tequila. Allen remembered that her name was Christy. She took a look in passing as Lenalee tilted the yearbook. "God, he's hot! What's his name?"

"Kanda," Allen answered flatly.

"Shit, he's gorgeous!" Christy said, setting the bottles of the counter and turning around to grab several glasses. "Honey, if I had that waiting for me at home, I don't think I'd ever be able to get out of bed again!"

"He is pretty hot, isn't he?" Lenalee asked, smirking at Allen.

"Is he your boyfriend, Alanna?" Christy asked.

Allen opened his mouth to speak, but Lenalee beat him to the punch. "Not yet," she said mischievously. "But they're both completely head over heels for the other!"

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Christy said, smiling. "Good luck!"

Allen smiled back weakly before glaring at Lenalee. He took a hold of her arm and dragged her out into the back hallway. When they were alone, he finally released her. "What are you doing?!" he asked quickly. "I'm not head over heels for Kanda!"

"Please," she said dismissively. "You're so head over heels you don't even know you've started moving."

He blinked. "Lenalee, I don't love Kanda," he said.

"Of course not," she said, "it's much too soon for that. You've only known each other for what…a month? A little over a month? But you have to admit that you like him."

"We've gone over this before," Allen said dully. "Yes, I like him, but not in that way."

"You don't know that!" she said, shaking her head. "I swear, Allen, one of these days you're going to realize what it is you feel for Kanda and shoot yourself in the foot for not recognizing it sooner!"

"Lenalee-"

"So if Kanda died tomorrow, would you be upset?"

"Wha-? Of course I'd be upset! He's one of my friends!"

She stared at him for a moment. "Would you consider me one of Kanda's friends?" she asked quietly.

"Well, yeah," he said, shrugging. "Why?"

"I wouldn't be that upset if Kanda died," she said flatly. He gaped at her. "I've met him just as many times as you have, Allen. I would be a little sad, but his death wouldn't change my life. He might be a friend, but the term is rather loose."

"How can you say that?!" he demanded. "He's our friend! If he died, everything would change! I wouldn't have a place to live, most of my possessions would probably end up being repossessed or donated to Goodwill, and I wouldn't…" he trailed off, stopping himself before he could get the thoughts out of his mouth.

"You wouldn't what?" she prompted gently.

"I…I wouldn't have anyone to help me reach the flour on the top shelf," he said flatly, picking a completely random thing. He couldn't say what he'd been about to say. She gave him a curious glance, as if she didn't quite believe him but knew better than to say anything.

"If you say so," she said quietly. "Here." She held out the yearbook to him.

"What's this for?" he asked, frowning.

She smirked. "Regardless of what you say, I know you'd like to see pictures," she said knowingly. She took the yearbook then and smacked the side of his left arm. He winced in pain and took a step back. She frowned. "Allen?" He hadn't said anything about his arm; after all, she didn't know about his real job. She knew about Cross and that he was a stupid bastard, but that was as far as it got. "Are you alright? What's wrong with your arm?"

"It's nothing," he managed to finally get out. "I just fell down the other day."

"Are you sure?" she asked, sounding worried now. "You looked like you were in serious pain…"

"I'll be fine," he said, smiling faintly at her.

"If you say so…" She didn't believe him, not for one bit. He could tell.

He forced himself to straighten up, to let go of his injured arm. He took the yearbook from her grasp, thanking her before excusing himself. He quickly went to the break room and stuffed the yearbook away with the rest of his things. He didn't want to look at it right now. He was glad that Lenalee had accidentally hit his wound; it had brought him back to reality and given him a chance to leave.

He didn't want to talk to Lenalee about Kanda. He didn't want to talk to Lavi about Kanda. Heck, he didn't want to talk to _Kanda _about Kanda. He didn't want anyone to know of the growing feelings he knew he had for the other. He knew it was unrequited, so there wasn't any point in feeling those kinds of emotions anyways. Nothing good could come of it, he was sure. It was better to hope for the feelings to go away rather than harbor impossible dreams. It was obvious to him what the outcome would be if he were to actually voice his thoughts.

He was unlucky. He never got what he wanted in life. He wasn't going to test his luck now.

* * *

"Oi, Moyashi, are you here?"

There was a crash in the kitchen. Kanda slowly counted to three in his head before rolling his eyes, removing his shoes and stepping into the actual living area of his apartment. He quickly scanned the kitchen area, surveying the damage. He had quickly learned that Allen was prone to mild kitchen disasters. Most of the time they weren't bad, just rather messy. But the kid always cleaned up after himself, so at least Kanda didn't have that to worry about. He would wait until Allen blew up a stove before actually getting on the other's case about it.

"Ah, Kanda, you're home!"

"No shit," Kanda muttered, shrugging out of his coat and throwing it over the back of the couch. "What are you cooking?"

"Chicken," Allen said easily. Kanda noticed that he seemed to be favoring his left arm a bit, doing most of the work with his right. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. Allen seemed to notice that he was being watched, because he turned around after a minute or two of Kanda's observation. "What?"

"How's your arm?" Kanda asked quietly.

"Oh," Allen said, his face falling. "Well…it's been better."

"…do I get any more than that, Moyashi?"

"Well, Lenalee accidentally hit it today," Allen said quietly. "I didn't have a chance to take any painkillers at work this afternoon, so when she hit it…well, you know…" he trailed off, returning his attention to the chicken sizzling in the frying pan.

It was then that Kanda noticed the slim book lying on the counter. He walked over quietly, studying it. He read the title, and then blinked in confusion. "What the hell do you have a high school yearbook out for?" he demanded. What was stranger, this was the yearbook of the high school _he _had attended. Looking at the year, he deduced that this wasthe year he had been a senior.

"Oh, Lenalee let me borrow it," Allen replied easily. "I never bought yearbooks, so I never had a chance to look through one."

"This is my high school," Kanda said quietly, sitting down on a barstool and reaching for the book. He flipped it open and started looking through the pages, seeing the faces of people he kind of remembered, some he wished he could forget, and others that he would've sworn he had never seen in his life. He scowled when he found the page where the senior pictures were. There was Lavi, smiling like an idiot; his hair had been longer then, just past his shoulders, and his ears hadn't been pierced yet.

He remembered a few other people from the school that didn't annoy him so much. He saw Marie – who was still a year older than him, but in the same grade – leaning against a tree trunk, smiling softly. And there, on the page opposite Marie's smiling face, was his own picture. His hair tie had broken that day, so his hair was hanging long around his clothes. He didn't look very happy, but then again, he never really looked happy.

"Is that you?" Allen asked, leaning over the counter.

Kanda scowled and quickly turned to a different, random page in the yearbook.

"What's the matter, Kanda?" Allen asked, laughing. "Your picture can't be that bad!"

"Shut up," Kanda snapped. Thinking of something, he turned to the section where the freshmen pictures were. There was really only one high school on this side of town, and it was huge. It was normal that they'd have gone to the same high school. Sure enough, there under the W section of names was Allen Walker, smiling hugely for the camera. Kanda couldn't help but snort. "And I thought my picture was bad," he smirked.

"What?!" Allen cried, looking at his face. He cringed. "Well, that is a rather bad picture of me, isn't it?" He looked at the amused face of Kanda, and scowled. "Don't be so mean! It's not my fault that I look so…so…"

"Dumb?" Kanda supplied.

"No," Allen said sullenly. "I was going to say cheesy."

"Well, the word is still applicable."

"At least there aren't pictures of me shirtless," Allen muttered.

Kanda raised an eyebrow. Figuring that Allen must've been talking about the sports section, he flipped through it until he had come to fencing. He had actually liked fencing; it definitely wasn't comparable with kendo, but most American high schools didn't offer typical Japanese activities. Besides, fencing was a completely different way of sword-fighting. If you could master both, you were naturally much better off.

He finally found the page he was looking for. Sure enough, there was a picture of him without a shirt on, smirking at the camera. He blinked as he stared down at the page. Why would the brat know about this picture? Moreover, why would he be looking at it? He looked up then, a frown on his face. "Why were you looking at this picture, Moyashi?"

Allen blinked. "W-what?" he asked unsteadily.

"Why were you looking at this specific picture?"

"Well, I didn't go looking for that picture!" Allen said, flushing a bit. "I just looked through the book and happened to see it, that's all! And I wish I hadn't! Honestly, do you have no decency?"

"Why do you care about it?" Kanda continued. "It's just a picture."

"Why are you shirtless?" Allen retorted. "Surely you don't always practice without a shirt on!"

"Actually, I do," Kanda replied, closing the yearbook. "And I don't see what the big deal is. We're both guys, every other damn guy on the team did the exact same thing, and I have a feeling that girls wouldn't mind looking at it either. So what's your damage?"

"You…you just shouldn't pose shirtless for pictures," Allen said, turning around. He quickly finished up dinner and put it on two plates, shoving one at Kanda before going and sitting down at the table, studiously ignoring the other.

Kanda turned around on his chair. "And why shouldn't I pose shirtless?" he asked. "Not that I was posing. Those damn girls on the yearbook committee always snap pictures when they know you're not looking." Allen didn't answer. "Does it…bother you, Moyashi?"

Allen flushed. "Of course not, Kanda," he said quietly.

"Doesn't seem that way to me," Kanda noted.

"Just shut up and eat your food!" Allen snapped then.

Kanda was a bit taken aback by the biting words, but merely rolled his eyes and turned around to eat. The chicken was strange; it was like nothing he'd ever tasted before, but then again, his palate wasn't exactly very expansive. Allen finished before him and had already started cleaning up the dishes. He grabbed Kanda's plate before the other could even put it in the sink.

"In a hurry, Moyashi?"

"Not really," Allen said.

"You don't have to work tonight."

"No, I don't."

"Then how about you start making good on that deal of ours?"

"Deal?" Allen asked, looking up from sticking a few plates in the dishwasher.

"I let you live here, you cook and teach me how to play the piano," Kanda muttered. "You've got the cooking part down, but you haven't once let me near that keyboard."

"You want to start…tonight?" Allen asked.

"That's what I just said, moron."

"Alright, fine!" Allen sighed. "Just let me clean up the rest of these dishes."

Kanda nodded once before leaving the room. He took his coat to his room before changing into a more comfortable pair of clothes. He could still hear Allen messing around with the dishes, so he went straight into Allen's room. It was rather messy, but in an organized sort of way. The only clean areas were around the bed and the keyboard, which was set up in a corner. He sat down at the bench and stared down at the keys. There were so many buttons and tiny words printed on the top – you'd practically need a microscope to get some of the words out, they were so tiny.

He quickly found the on button, and pressed it lightly. A tiny screen near the middle lit up before changing to display a musical staff. He pressed down on a key experimentally. Its position on the staff lit up on the screen. He quickly let go of the key. It wasn't terribly noisy, but in the silence of Allen's room, it was quite loud.

"Oh, you're already here," Allen said from the doorway. Kanda looked up to see Allen walking over to him. He took a seat beside Kanda on the bench. "So…do you know anything at all about music?"

"It makes noise," Kanda said flatly.

Allen sighed. "Yes, obviously," he replied, smiling faintly. "I meant, do you know anything about reading music. Key signatures, notes, rhythms, meter, tempos…" he trailed off at the blank look on Kanda's face. He sighed then. "Apparently not. I suppose I'll have to start from scratch then."

For the better part of the next hour, Allen sat there explaining the details of music. Kanda had never dreamed that it was so complicated. Of course, notes he understood, and key signatures weren't that hard – although there were so many of them! – but meter completely threw him off. Of course, 4/4 was easy enough to get. Really, anything over 4 was simple. But he didn't understand why you'd write something in 12/8 or 4/2. He had never cared for math, and he hadn't known that music involved so much of it.

Finally, Allen taught him a very simple song. He played it a few times to Kanda, explaining that it was only in one and a half octaves, so it shouldn't be very hard. Kanda had a feeling that in saying that, Allen was calling him incompetent, but he let the other get off with just a glare. He then attempted to duplicate the song Allen had played. But his hands were bigger than Allen's, clumsier, longer-fingered. He frowned at how bad the song sounded.

Allen smiled encouragingly at him. "That's not bad for your first time," he said. "Of course, it sounds horrible. But you're just a beginner!"

"Shove it, sprout," Kanda snapped. He played the piece again. It sounded just as bad. Scowling at the keyboard now, he attempted to play it a third time. It wasn't quite so horrible this time, but he pressed down on the keys so hard that it sounded discordant. "What the fuck is wrong with this stupid keyboard?!" he finally demanded, turning to Allen for an exclamation.

"It's not the keyboard, Kanda," Allen said, hiding his smirk behind a hand. "You just suck."

"It keeps getting worse!"

"That's because you're holding your hands all wrong!" Allen said, gently pushing Kanda's hands off the keyboard. "Your fingers aren't even bent! It's the same way that you would type on a computer keyboard or hold a pencil! You have to bend your fingers, silly. That's what you have joints for."

"But then it's harder to reach the keys," Kanda protested.

"You get used to it," Allen said. "Here, give me your hands." Kanda frowned at him. Allen just sighed at that, and grabbed his hands, putting them on the keyboard at the right octave. He then painstakingly went and changed the position of each finger so that it was properly bent. "There, that's better." He then removed his hands. "Now play the song."

Kanda didn't think just changing the positions of his fingers was going to help much, but he went ahead and started playing the song. To his surprise, it changed everything. He had to move his hands a bit more to hit all the keys, but it was much easier to actually hit the right key on time and move on the next. When he was finished, he removed his hands and stared down at the instrument.

"See?" Allen prompted. "What did I tell you?"

"Shut up."

"That's not very nice, Kanda," Allen said reproachfully. "It's not the teacher's fault if the student just doesn't listen."

"Whatever," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "So when can I actually play real songs?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, the kind of songs you play," Kanda said.

Allen laughed outright at that, making Kanda scowl at him. "Kanda, you don't even know how to read music yet!" he said. "You can start playing beginning songs, but it takes years to get to the level I'm at!"

"Conceited son of a bitch," Kanda muttered under his breath, crossing his arms.

"I'm not conceited," Allen said flatly, "it's the truth. I've been playing the piano for eight years, Kanda."

"Congratulations."

"Oh, don't be like that," Allen said, sighing. "You have natural talent, Kanda. I can already tell that. Give it a year or so and you can probably play some of the pieces I play."

"I don't want to wait a year," Kanda said stubbornly.

"Kanda," Allen said reproachfully, "no musician gets good over night. It takes years of practice and time spent getting better. Even musical geniuses have to start somewhere."

"Whatever."

"…does that mean you're going to quit?" Allen asked quietly.

"No," Kanda said sharply. "I don't quit, Moyashi."

"Then are you going to let me teach you?"

"I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" Kanda asked, rolling his eyes.

Allen snorted. "Believe me, Kanda, I'm not doing this because I enjoy teaching people," he said. "If you want another teacher, by all means, go find someone else who'll put up with you. Of course, you could be hard-pressed to actually manage that…"

"Shut up," Kanda snapped. He turned to face Allen then, looking down his straight nose at the other. "You're not getting out of this deal now. You can teach me."

"Alright," Allen replied, smiling.

Kanda frowned when the brat moved his head a bit, showing off a cut. Without thinking, he reached out and moved the few white strands of hair hiding the wound. He felt Allen stiffen under his touch. Kanda's eyes narrowed when he saw the healing injury. It was longer than he remembered, and a bit more jagged. "Kanda…"

Kanda ignored the voice of the boy beside him. He slowly ran a finger down the side of the wound. Allen didn't make a noise, but Kanda could feel those lambent, silver eyes on him, watching him carefully. "What are you doing?"

"You should've done something with that cut," Kanda said, finally moving his gaze down to Allen's eyes.

"It's not that bad," Allen said softly.

Kanda nodded once and let his eyes drift over Allen's face then. He wasn't sure how to describe it. It wasn't really masculine or feminine or even androgynous. It was almost…other-worldly. It was perfect in that flawed sort of way. It was perfect because every feature wasn't perfect. It was hard to describe, and yet completely unforgettable. Without even realizing it, he'd drawn closer until their two faces were only inches apart.

"Kanda…?"

Allen's voice brought him back to his senses. He didn't pull away just yet, but he remembered where he was, and what he was doing. Looking at Allen's eyes, he wasn't sure what to expect. There wasn't anxiety or fear or nerves. It wasn't happy or sad. There may have been a little apprehensiveness, a little confusion. But at that moment, Kanda really didn't care. This was it. All doubts had to be put to rest now. He had tried staying away, he had tried to convince himself that Allen didn't need to be a part of his life, he had tried to forget the kid. But he couldn't.

Allen jerked back as his cell phone rang then. Kanda sat up straight, dropping his hand. The white-haired boy looked over at him somewhat nervously before he stood up and went to pick up the phone. "H-hello?" he asked, his voice somewhat shaky. "Oh, yes. Actually, I had them finished yesterday and was going to drop them off tomorrow." There was a pause. "What? Why?" He sighed. "I suppose. I'll have to take a day or two off work, but I think I have enough credit with my managers to get them." He nodded. "No, I understand." He scowled then. "Don't mention it," he said flatly before hanging up the phone.

Kanda sat there, staring at the other as he sat on the bed. "That was my master," Allen said quietly. "I'm going to have to go out of town this weekend."

"For what?"

"He tracked one of the shipments that the NOAHs placed with an illegal business," he said. "We're going to see what kind of stuff they've purchased and then attempt to prevent it from being delivered. We have to cross the state border, but it shouldn't be too long. I'll be back by Monday."

"Che, it's not like I expect you to call or anything," Kanda said gruffly, standing up. "It's your job. Do whatever the hell you want."

"Kanda, wait!"

Kanda stopped at the doorway, turning around to look at Allen over his shoulder. "What?" he snapped.

Allen stared at him for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said.

Kanda frowned. "Sorry?" he repeated. "Sorry for what?"

"Well…I just…I thought-"

"Quit apologizing," Kanda interjected. "It's annoying."

"You aren't mad at me?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Do you always throw that question around when people cut you off?" he demanded. "Because you sure as hell ask me that a lot. And my answer never fucking changes, Moyashi. Just…ah hell, do whatever the fuck you want. Just leave me alone."

He turned around and walked down the hallway to his own room, slamming the door behind him. He hadn't meant to snap at the kid like that; it had just…happened. He'd always had a problem with saying things before he thought about what he was saying. But he couldn't help but be a little ticked off! There he was, and he'd been just about to… About to what, exactly? He sat down at his computer desk, propping his chin up with a hand. What had he been planning on doing, right before Cross's untimely interruption?

He had been going to kiss Allen.

"Dammit," he muttered, slamming a fist onto his desk. He couldn't believe he'd been so careless! He'd let go of his self-control, let himself get caught up in the moment, whatever the hell you wanted to call it. He couldn't afford to do that. Shit, he'd known that he felt something for the kid, but he didn't know that it would cause him to lose all rational thought!

He sighed and leaned back in the chair. He had probably completely freaked Allen out. After all, first he'd almost _fucking kissed _the kid and then he'd snapped at him and told him leave to him alone. He couldn't afford to do this again. Allen didn't deserve it, and he certainly didn't deserve it. He had to figure out his feelings once and for all, decide what to do, and then get them out in the open. Otherwise, he would go apeshit.

On one hand, he knew that he wanted the kid physically. Judging from the way Allen hadn't shoved him away immediately, he was willing to bet that he was at least partially open to the idea as well. But lust didn't cover it all. It didn't explain why he'd let Allen move in with him, why he'd bought Allen the keyboard, and why he hated the fact that the kid was leaving this weekend to go risk his life with that bastard Cross.

But he didn't know what that feeling meant. He didn't know what it was. And he couldn't figure it out while Allen was here, or he'd risk just snapping and jumping the kid. He sighed. Allen was leaving this weekend. That would give him some time to think. He could sort everything out then, and then figure out what to do, what he wanted.

And hopefully, that was what Allen would want too.

* * *

Haha, don't shoot me!!

The Yullen will come, believe me!! I just don't want to rush things. But it's not going to be one of those stories where they only get together in the last chapter. And trust me, it should come any chapter now. I guess what I'm trying to convey is that period in relationships where you aren't sure if the other person likes you, and you want to take that chance and go for them, but at the same time, you don't want to mess up what you already have. Hopefully, I'm not failing at it DX

Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are much appreciated and loved :D!!


	17. Chokechain

So I finally managed to get out a chapter that's not forever long!!

However, it is still around five thousand words and I decided to separate this chapter and the next chapter. They were originally one chapter. I so fail at writing short chapters, haha. I couldn't do it if my life depended on it. But oh well.

Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!

And once again, thanks to **Dr. Composed **for beta-ing this for me!!

* * *

Allen was silent as he looked down from the window of the hotel room. It was raining outside, not to mention cold. He hated when it rained in winter; snow would've been nice, but rain was just miserable. Add in the fact that next door, his stupid guardian was going at it with one of the maids and he was in a downright sour mood.

Cross had picked him up earlier today. They had driven all day – well Cross had. He didn't trust Allen with his car, which he had named Maria, after his first "true love". Allen was skeptical of that to say the least. Anyways, now they were here in this hotel, waiting until tomorrow to attempt to sneak into the warehouse. It had already closed for the night and there were suspicious electric fences surrounding it. Cross had decided to wait since they apparently had ample time to find out some more information.

With a sigh, he set his small bag down on the table and sat down in the armchair. He felt strangely guilty, for some reason. When he'd left this morning, Kanda had been sitting at the table, finishing up some assignments. Allen had said good-bye, but Kanda hadn't even looked up. It made Allen feel as though he'd done something wrong, though he knew that he hadn't. Oh, what he would give to have had Cross not call that one night.

He had been positive that Kanda had been about to kiss him. He couldn't figure out why, either. There were only a few reasons, so he listed them in his head. Option one - Kanda liked him, and wanted to kiss him. Option two – Kanda found him attractive, and just wanted to screw him. Option three – Kanda was a cruel, insensitive bastard who enjoyed toying with people in psychological mind games. Or option four – Kanda was weird and just liked staring at people's faces from very close distances.

He sincerely doubted that it was the fourth option, considering that Kanda hated people and was constantly expressing his disgust over them. He also didn't really pay attention to detail unless it was important. As much of a bastard as he knew Kanda was, he didn't really think it was option three either. Kanda was cold and insensitive, but he wasn't cruel. And he wasn't one for mind games – if he wanted to get something out of you, he'd threaten you until you almost peed your pants and started sobbing like a baby.

He hoped that it wasn't the second one. He hadn't been in any relationships before, but he could tell that he wasn't a casual sex kind of guy. Besides, he knew that eventually, doing something as intimate as sex would cause him to gain feelings for Kanda, even if it wasn't love. But it wasn't really about sex for Allen. Naturally, he understood and thought about sex quite a bit – he was a healthy teenage guy after all. But he'd lived without it for nineteen years: he could go longer if he had to.

That left options one and two. His cell phone rang then; he decided to leave it at that for the moment, and he wouldcome back to it later. He pried the device out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hey, Moyashi-chan!"

Allen's face relaxed into a smile. "Hey, Lavi," he greeted in return. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Lavi said. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm actually out of town for the weekend," Allen said.

"Really?!" Lavi asked, sounding quite surprised. "Whatcha doing?"

"I have to meet with my guardian about the restaurant," he explained.

"I thought he was your father."

"Well, surrogate father," Allen said, lying smoothly. He had forgotten that Lavi thought he was Cross's son, per Lenalee.

"But you called him your guardian," Lavi pointed out.

"He's not technically my father, so I am not going to call him Father," Allen said firmly. "If I ever see my real father again, I will call him Father." He knew that was never going to happen, seeing as how his parents were in Great Britain and he had no intentions of ever going back there. But Lavi didn't need to know that.

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Lavi said quickly. "So…did you and Yuu-chan hook up or something?"

"…What?" Allen asked flatly.

"Well, he's been acting kinda different lately," Lavi said. "Haven't you noticed anything? He's really…quiet. And nothing I say has any effect on him! I even called him a pussy today and he just walked away!"

"I-"

"He just now stopped and stared at a bunch of kids making a mess in the museum café," Lavi continued. "Just stopped and stared! Normally he would've beaten the shit outta them!"

"I don't know why Kanda's been in such a bad mood lately," Allen said quickly while he had a chance.

"So you've noticed it too?"

"I live with him, you know," Allen said flatly. "Of course I noticed it."

"Well, do you know what happened?"

"No," Allen said. He didn't like lying to Lavi like that, but he wasn't about to tell the other that Kanda had almost kissed him. He was sure that that would go over _real_ well. Not to mention that Kanda would probably kill him for revealing something like that.

"You have no idea?"

"Completely stumped."

"Hmm." For some reason, it didn't sound as if Lavi believed him. "Okay then."

"Okay."

"I guess I'll talk to ya later!"

"Of course," Allen said, smiling faintly. Lavi hung up then. Allen let his arm drift down to his lap. He knew that it wasn't Lavi's fault, but after that phone call, his mood certainly wasn't any better. So not only was Kanda giving him the cold shoulder, he was acting completely apathetic towards everyone else. Well, wasn't that just wonderful? He shook his head before standing up and getting his pajamas as he made his way to the bathroom for a shower. He was seriously going to have to have a talk with Kanda when he got home.

* * *

"Good evening, Kanda!"

Kanda looked up, quite bored, to see his boss standing over him, a box in his hands. He had that strange glint in his eyes that said he was quite happy with something. "What?" Kanda asked flatly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can't wish you a good evening?" Komui Lee asked. "It's such a wonderful night!"

"Why?"

"'Why?'" Hesounded scandalized. "Why not?!"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "What's in the box?"

"Ah!" Komui said, nodding. He quickly opened the box and pulled out a pair of…pants? Kanda's eyes narrowed. "Your new uniforms are in! I had them specifically made!" He set the pants down on the counter and moved on to pick up a shirt. "I went into the locker room while you were working and took your sizes!"

Kanda should have felt significantly creeped out by that, but at the moment, he didn't seem to be able to summon up the right amount of anger. "Whatever," he said, looking away. He wondered absently where Lavi was.

Komui's face fell. "You aren't mad at me?" he asked. "For invasion of privacy, and all of that?"

Kanda's gaze flicked back to him. "Do you want me to be mad at you?" he asked coldly.

"Well, that's half the fun of doing stuff like this," Komui explained, reaching up to scratch his head. "You know, you don't seem quite yourself today. Is something bothering you, Kanda?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. Even if he was one of those pathetic people who burdened others with their stupid little problems, why the hell would he come to _Komui_? He'd rather have a heart-to-heart with Tiedoll. "Nothing is wrong," he said, only even bothering to respond because this _was_ his boss.

"Oh, well, that's fine then," Komui said, shrugging. He set the shirt down on top of the pants and pushed them towards Kanda, who snatched them up and threw them in his personal cubby space under the desk. "You don't have to be so violent with the clothes, Kanda," Komui said reproachfully. "Now they'll have wrinkles."

"I don't care."

"I know." Komui looked up then. "Where's Lavi?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Language, Kanda, there are children around." Kanda rolled his eyes again. Like the kids cared. Kids these days already used language. They were just better about hiding it and remembered not to say the word fuck around their mothers. "Anyways, I have something to tell you!"

"I'm listening."

"Congratulations!"

Kanda blinked before staring up at him. "What?"

"Congratulations!" Komui said again, beaming.

"I heard you the first time," Kanda snapped. "What the hell for?"

"On you finally getting a lover!"

Kanda had never really paid any heed to those stupid biology textbooks he had to read for class, but he suddenly understood what they were talking about. He now understood exactly how it felt to have a million different emotions cross your mind in the blink of an eye. And none of them were kindly.

At that moment, Lavi sidled into the information desk, his cell phone in his hands. "Hey, Komui, what's up?" he asked, saluting their boss. He then saw the box on the counter. "What's in the box?" Without waiting for an answer – or sensing the tense atmosphere – he walked over to the box and looked inside. "Oh, hey, new rags! Cool!" He picked up the uniform that had his name on it and then bent down, putting them away. It wasn't until he stood up again that he apparently noticed Kanda glaring at him and Komui looking quite nervous.

"I'm just going to leave now," Komui said, laughing nervously. He picked up his box and quickly walked the other direction.

"You told Komui," Kanda said accusatorily.

"Heh, what are you talking about, Yuu-chan?" Lavi asked, looking anywhere but at Kanda's face.

Kanda stood up then, so forcefully that his chair fell over backwards. He quickly pinned Lavi against the counter, his arms to either side of the red-head. "You know exactly what the hell I'm talking about," he hissed. He hadn't meant to tell Lavi about the almost-kiss. It had just slipped out in a moment of anger. He'd hoped that Lavi would forget about it, even gone so far as to ignore him the rest of the day. But he hadn't expected the idiot to go and tell his fucking _boss _of all people!

"I didn't tell him about that!" Lavi protested.

"Oh, really?" Kanda demanded. "Then what the fuck was that?!"

Lavi put his hands up in front of him, trying to get Kanda to back away a bit. It didn't work very well. "Look, I just said that you were with someone," he said quickly. "I didn't tell him about the kiss."

"Someone?" Kanda repeated. "You mean Allen?"

"I didn't say it was Allen!"

"Do you really think I want my boss to know any of this?!" Kanda snapped. "How the hell did that even come up in the conversation?"

"There was a lull."

"Oh, for God's sake," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "I swear to God, if you tell anyone else that I am dating someone – which I'm not, by the way – or mention the kiss, I will crush you like a fucking bug."

"Kiss? What kiss?"

Kanda and Lavi both turned then to see Lenalee standing on the opposite side of the desk, a curious expression on her face. She must've been there to see Lavi; sometimes, she'd visit him and then they would go out. Lavi muttered something incoherent under his breath, and Komui ran out of his office, hugging his sister from behind. "Lenalee!"

"Hi, Brother," she said quietly, patting one of his arms awkwardly. She quickly peeled him off her. "But what kiss are you talking about, Kanda? And what's this about dating?"

"Kanda is seeing someone!" Komui proclaimed.

Lenalee blinked once, and then her eyes went wide as saucers. "Oh my God, Allen finally told you!" she said breathlessly. She was the spitting image of the phrase shocked as hell.

"Told me what?" Kanda demanded.

"That's so sweet!" Lenalee continued, completely ignoring his question. "I'm so happy for the two of you!"

Komui frowned then. "Wait…Kanda's dating Allen?"

"No!" Kanda barked.

"No?" Lenalee questioned, frowning.

"This is great!" Komui said gleefully. When everyone just looked at him incredulously, he stopped doing his little dance of joy. "What?" he asked defensively. "This means two guys are out of the running for Lenalee!"

Lenalee rolled her eyes. "Brother, I'm already spoken for."

"Yeah!" Lavi piped up. He quickly backed down when Komui glared at him.

"I am _not _dating that brat!" Kanda said harshly. He quickly bent down and picked up his new uniform, keys and cell phone before moving out from behind the desk, pushing Komui out of his way rather forcefully.

"Wait, Yuu-chan!"

"I'm leaving!" Kanda spat back over his shoulder.

"The shift isn't over yet!"

Kanda just gave the red-head the finger over his shoulder.

"Kanda, watch your language!"

"I didn't fucking say anything!"

"Body language counts too!"

Kanda muttered something quite obscene under his breath as he pushed his way out onto the streets, ignoring the disgruntled looks of the people he'd run into. "Fucking idiots, all of them," he cursed. He abruptly turned at a street corner, and stopped when he saw a bar across the street. God, did he need a drink. He went inside without a backwards glance.

* * *

"What the hell was that?"

Lavi sighed and looked up at Lenalee, who was still wearing a confused frown on her face. Komui looked equally as befuddled. "Well…" he trailed off, not sure exactly what Lenalee wanted to know.

"Are Kanda and Allen together or not?"

"No," Lavi replied, running a hand through his fiery red hair.

"Oh," Lenalee said. She was quiet for a moment before she continued, her expression now thoughtful. "But…Kanda likes Allen, right?" Lavi nodded. "Because Allen likes Kanda. God, those two are so oblivious!"

"Tell me about it!"

"And what is this about a kiss?"

Lavi reached out then and grabbed Lenalee's arm. Komui made a noise of protest, but didn't follow them. Lenalee frowned at him, but let herself be led away to an empty corner. "Lavi, what is going on?" she finally asked when he let go of her.

"Yuu-chan almost kissed Allen," he said quietly. Kanda be damned, those two were going to get together, whether it was the last thing he did! He was tired of them dancing around each other like two school kids. It was time to man up and just hop to it already.

"What?" Lenalee hissed. "When?!"

"The other night," Lavi replied. "But right as they were about to start smooching, Allen's dad called. Totally ruined the mood. So, since Yuu-chan's a total prick, he just snapped at Allen and left, and now he's refusing to talk to the poor kid."

"That jerk!"

"Yeah, well, it is _Yuu-chan_ we're talking about."

"So what now?"

"I dunno…Allen's not here this weekend," Lavi said, scratching his head. "I've tried talking to Yuu-chan about it, but he won't listen. He keeps saying that it's none of my business, and that he'll work it out on his own."

"Bull," Lenalee interjected. "If we let him work it out on his own, he might do something totally stupid!"

"Believe me, I know," Lavi said, chortling. "But I just called Allen a few minutes ago and asked him if he would know why Kanda's been acting so apathetic lately and he denied that anything happened."

"Well does he know you know?"

"Of course not!"

"Then of course he'd deny it!" Lenalee said hotly. "He probably doesn't know why Kanda's upset! …and why is he upset, anyways?"

"Huh. That's a good question."

"Okay," Lenalee said, moving a piece of hair behind an ear. "So here's what we'll do. You work on Kanda, and see if he'll admit to you what's got a pipe shoved up his ass."

"He's always got a pipe up there."

"No, normally it's a stick. Now it's a pipe. A big metal one with jagged edges."

"Ouch."

"Hence why he is so far gone that he doesn't even care anymore," Lenalee explained. "I'll talk to Allen. I think it's best if we tell him that we know about the almost-kiss. That way, I can work on him. If he'll open up to anyone, it's me."

"Gotcha."

"But…what happens after that?"

"Hopefully, they'll realize how utterly stupid they've acted and finally do something about their feelings," Lenalee said succinctly.

"And if they don't?"

"…Dr. Phil."

"Ew, no, that guy's an idiot! Who is he to give advice on relationships?! He's been divorced like five times!" Lavi might have been exaggerating a little bit, but who cared? He was not letting Dr. Phil lay a hand on his friends!

"Fine. Oprah?"

"Oh, I love her!"

"Oprah it is."

* * *

Allen popped out of the box he had been in, spraying packing peanuts everywhere. He glared at the box beside him – a much more _spacious_ box, might he add – that Cross was in. "Why did I have to get the smallest damn box in the entire post office?" he demanded. He ruffled his hair a bit, trying to get the static out of it, but that just made it worse. It looked like he had a cloud sticking to his head.

Cross sighed and stood up, dusting the tiny pieces of Styrofoam off. "I certainly wasn't going to get in it," he said quietly. "Now stop wasting time and get out of there."

Allen rolled his eyes, but climbed out of the box anyways and followed Cross down the mountain of boxes they'd been set on. It had been Cross's brilliant idea to have them put inside boxes and then shipped off to the warehouse. He'd even used the return address of the one of the companies the NOAHs generally bought supplies from. However, Allen did not appreciate nearly suffocating inside a tiny box with just one infinitesimal air hole near the top. Nor did he appreciate having to assume a position that was both very embarrassing and very uncomfortable to fit in said box.

There didn't seem to be anyone around on the dim warehouse floor. Still, Allen found himself on edge. This wasn't like the last mission; this time, it was the middle of the day, and there were sure to be people inside this building. Of course, it was highly unlikely that any of the NOAH themselves would be there. It was just a warehouse, after all.

"Got your headset?"

"Oh, no!" Allen said, mocking distress. "I must've left it in the box!"

Cross glared at him. "Shut up, you idiot," he snapped. "Now's not the time for your stupid sense of humor. Just put it on."

Allen rolled his eyes as the other pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth before lighting up. Now wasn't the time to be smoking either, now was it? Still, he attached the headset to his ear and turned it on. They had already discussed their plan of action – he would snoop around the floor and see what details he could ascertain as to where the NOAHs were buying their supplies. Return addresses, serial numbers, bar codes…all that jazz. Cross, on the other hand, was going straight to the office located in the corner of the room, presumably where the only overseers were.

He set off at a loping pace, running lightly on the tips of his toes as he slipped between the boxes. He went as far back as he could before slipping between towering masses of boxes, hiding himself as best as he could while still being able to get the information he needed. Whenever he saw a label, he would stop and take five minutes or so to memorize its information. It was painstaking work, but Cross would expect nothing less than perfection.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Allen jerked up when he heard the gruff voice. A very large man was standing there, and judging by his clothes, he wasn't just another worker. He stood up quickly. "Oh, don't mind me," he said quietly, reaching up to press the button on his headset that let Cross know to watch his back.

"Eh?"

"I'll just be going now." Allen tried to slip past the guy; while his mental skills were obviously leaving something to be desired, his physical prowess wasn't. He easily grabbed Allen and shoved him against a metal frame; Allen winced at the pain, but kept his cool. The man wasn't choking him or anything – he was just pinning him to the wall. He had to think.

"Don't go," the man said, frowning. "No one stays with me. They think I'm an idiot." Well, he'd find no contradictions from the peanut gallery on that one. He pressed Allen harder against the wall. "What's your name?"

"Allen," Allen breathed out. He knew that he should've come up with a fake name, but he thought it would be useless at this point. He was going to have to kill this man, or at least harm him enough to knock him unconscious.

"Allen…Walker?"

Allen froze. How did this man know his name?

The man laughed then, a harsh guttural sound that sounded more like a wheezing guffaw. "You are!" he said. He suddenly brought his face closer to Allen's, enough so that Allen could clearly see the sienna color of his eyes and smell something sickly sweet on his breath. "My family doesn't like you either! You're just like me."

Allen took offense to that.

"You can call me Skin Boric," the man said easily. "And if you like sweet things, I'll even let you be my friend."

Suddenly, there was an explosion at the other end of the warehouse. Both Allen and Skin looked over to the area in shock. The man's grip on Allen loosened; breaking from his shock first, Allen jerked away hard and started running back down the boxes. He heard Skin curse behind him and then start running after him, his heavy footsteps thudding on the smooth concrete.

Allen positively threw himself past boxes and boxes, trying to get back into the main aisle. Debris was raining from the sky – chunks of concrete, ceiling tiles, cardboard, packing peanuts. He staggered as a stray ceiling tile fell on his head, making his world reel for a moment. It was enough of a moment for the brute to catch up with him.

He felt rather than saw himself get thrown up in the air and across the floor. He tried to remain as limp as possible while in the air, knowing that that would save him from breaking bones. But the wind was still knocked out of him when he hit the ground hard. "I didn't say you could leave!" Skin called out. Allen looked up to see the man stomping towards him. He quickly pushed himself up off the ground.

Skin swung a large fist at him; he easily ducked out of the way and brought his own leg up. He kicked the man in the stomach, but all the other did was grunt in discomfort before swinging at him again. Allen wasn't so lucky this time; the punch clipped him on the side of the head, and he staggered to the side. As he dizzily danced out of the way, Allen thought fast and furiously.

He was obviously no match for this guy in terms of brute physical power. But he was quicker, as well as smarter. He needed more advantages than that. He looked around and thankfully saw a nearby stack of sturdy wooden crates. He jumped up onto the first one and started scrambling up to the top. Skin growled after him and started climbing, luckily at a much slower pace due to his bulk.

Suddenly, the headset on his ear buzzed in. "Oi! Idiot disciple, where are you?!"

"I'm kind of busy at the moment!" Allen snapped when he got a chance. He was now at the top crate. He leaned down and ripped off one of the wooden slats; he didn't want to use a gun right now. He wasn't sure who else was in the place, and he couldn't attract unwanted attention.

"That's not what I asked!"

Skin was getting closer now. Allen spread his feet a bit wider for a stronger stance and watched the other man's ascent warily. "Fine! I'm at the intersection of 'oh' and 'shit'!"

"Don't be a smartass!" Allen heard a gun go off in the same general vicinity as the explosion. Cross must be hard pressed then. "How many?"

"Just one, but he's huge!" Skin was now just one level of boxes below him. The man swung at Allen's legs; Allen jumped out of the way, swinging his makeshift club. It shattered upon impact with Skin's head. The man groaned, staggering back a step as he shook it off. Allen cursed and yanked off another slat.

"I need you to get the hell over here!"

Allen swung again at the other. This time, Skin grabbed the club in midair. Allen quickly abandoned it as Skin threw it over his shoulder, grinning. There wasn't time to get another slat. Instead, Allen picked up the top crate and shoved it at the other's face. Skin wasn't expecting that, and pitched backwards, falling down a few layers.

"I'll get there as soon as I can!" he relayed to Cross.

"Never mind that now! Just get the hell out of here!"

"Run?!"

"Like the damn wind!"

Allen let go of his headset and picked up another crate. This one was quite heavy and he could barely shoulder it. He threw it – rather sloppily – at Skin's stooping figure. Luckily for him, the box clipped him right on the head. He dropped like a stone, falling the rest of the way to the floor, where he was still. Allen was sure that he wasn't dead, but he was least somewhere out in lala land.

He quickly clambered down the mountain and towards the exit. Cross would no doubt meet him outside. But when he got outside, he saw no sign of the red-head. He quickly hid behind a large bush, still scanning the area in case his guardian was hiding himself as well. There was nothing. Cautiously, he put a hand up to his headset. "I'm outside," he whispered, "where are you?" There was silence. Frowning, he repeated his message. There was a brief blip, and then a wailing noise that reminded him of concerts where the band had too much feedback on the monitors.

Wincing, he yanked the headset off his ear and waited until the keening noise went away. He then raised it cautiously up to his ear, listening for any sort of noise or sound.

There was only static.

* * *

Yes. I know. Another cliffhanger. Evil? Why yes I am :D

And about Skin. I couldn't remember what color his eyes were as a human, so I just made them brown. And I know he seems kind of weak here, but since he's human and not, well, a Noah, he's not as strong. Plus, I think in that type of environment, Allen would have a clear advantage. Well, really, any small person would. Big is not always better :P

So yes, the action will continue next chapter. And I promise more Yullen next chapter - I already got it mapped it out in my head.

Oh yeah!! I always wanted to ask you guys if you're opposed to this including a sex scene. I know I asked this before, but since there are more people reading this now (and the possible point for a sex scene is a lot closer, hehe), I thought I'd ask again to make sure. I found a humorous way to make it work, but I can always add it separately if no one wants to read it. So don't forget to review and tell me what you think :D


	18. WOW

I wasn't planning on having this chapter done this early. I really wasn't.

But I kind of felt bad after that major cliffhanger last chapter, so I went ahead and started writing and came up with this. Oh, and just to be clear - I only broke this chapter and the last chapter up because combined they would have been over 10,000 words, and I don't like it when I have chapters that long. It's because I'm OCD and it just freaks me out. So, sorry about that. I'm not trying to make the chapters any shorter.

Also I wanted to say that I've decided to get a livejournal!! I'm gonna start posting one-shots over there, mainly because I'm not good at writing one-shots and I need the practice. I'll still upload stories here, just mainly crack stories or multi-chapter stories. I just think is better with multi-chapter fics than LJ is. But if you want to add me as a friend or something on LJ, you can. I only have like two friends right now, haha. But anyways, the link is on my bio page here at FF. There's nothing there right now but there will be hopefully soon.

Again, merci beaucoup to **Dr. Composed** for beta-ing this!! And thanks to everyone else for reviewing/faving/alerting/reading!!

* * *

There had been many times in Allen's life when he had been unsure of what to do. Like when Mana had died, when he hadn't gotten into college, when he'd been evicted from his apartment…but this one took the cake. Holding a dead transmitter in his hands, sitting behind a bush, near a warehouse currently filled with terrorists holding guns and God knew what else, with his mission partner God knew where, and no way to get back home – this had to be one of his worst nightmares come true. The other involved Kanda finally snapping and chopping him to bits with a butter knife; he had no doubts that the other could do it.

He quickly turned off the transmitter and put it in his pocket; he didn't want anyone to be able to track him if they found its counterpart on Cross. Looking back to the entrance, he saw that it was still relatively calm. And while his heart was pounding with nerves, he knew that he needed to find out what had happened. And the only way that was going to happen was if he went back inside the warehouse.

Steeling himself, he stood up, dashed over to the door, and poked his head around the corner. When he saw that the coast was clear, he ran inside and hid behind a stack of boxes. He was on the main aisle; he had gone right originally, and Cross had taken the left. So that was the direction he started to walk in. He moved quietly and slowly, concealing himself whenever he got so much as a glimpse of movement; nine out of ten times, it turned out to be nothing, but hey, better safe than sorry.

He stopped completely when he heard two voices.

"You idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot! You're an idiot!"

"You let him get away, dumbass!"

"No way! I fucking shot him! With my gun!"

"What else would you shoot him with?!"

"I could always use my-"

"Where'd he go?!"

"How should I know?!"

"You're the one who fucking shot him!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means you should fucking know where he went!"

"I couldn't see! There was smoke everywhere!"

"Fine! We'll just have to look for him! Let's go find a golf cart!"

"Yeah!" There was a brief pause. "Wait…why do we need a golf cart?"

"Because I don't wanna just walk around!"

"Oh, right!"

Allen rolled his eyes as the two voices trailed off. He cautiously stepped out from his hiding place and looked around the corner of a stack of boxes. He was now almost directly under where the explosion had been. The hole in the ceiling was directly above; dust motes were sparkling in the sunlight. There was a large bloodstain on the floor. It smelled fresh.

However, it wasn't big enough to be life-threatening. Allen could tell by looking at it that the wound had just been a flesh wound. It wasn't fatal. That meant that Cross was alive. He was sure of it. After all, it took quite a bit to get rid of his master. There were a few papers scattered around the blood. He frowned, and then bent down to pick them up. Some of them had bloody fingerprints on them, or just splatters of the red liquid. He figured these were the papers Cross had gotten out of the office.

He gathered them all together and folded them before sticking them in the pocket with his transmitter. He couldn't do anything else here. Cross had told him to run, so run he would. He quickly slipped out of the warehouse, once again concealing himself behind a large bush. Luckily, this bush was pretty close to the parking lot. He peeked through some leaves; there weren't many cars here, but he'd still have to wait until nightfall before he felt safe enough to attempt to bypass the security guard at the gate. Either that or hop the fence.

To pass time, he pulled out the documents he'd found on the floor. To his surprise, most of them looked relatively simple. They were business transactions. Some of the requests were very odd, too – insanely large shipments of film, coils and coils of wire, sheets of all kinds of metal…he didn't like the sound of any of it. But he already knew they were interested in weapons of mass destruction. It wasn't anything new.

He flipped to the next page and started reading. He felt his heart skip a beat. This…this was an information sheet about him. There was a physical description, and some rough details thrown in, along with a composite sketch. At the bottom of the page, a hasty message had been scrawled. As Allen read it, he felt his blood run cold with dread.

_Based on Walker's character, the most effective way to hurt him is not to go after him, but to go after his friends. He lives with a man known as Kanda Yuu. I have learned that these two have a romantic relationship. See what you can do about this man. Find and eliminate him immediately._

Allen could honestly say at that point that he was scared. Well, perhaps scared wasn't the best word. He wasn't particularly afraid. Logically, he knew that Kanda was very strong and very capable of taking care of himself. He also doubted that the NOAHs were stupid enough to attempt to attack Kanda in his own apartment; it was loud, noisy, and the neighbors would immediately call the cops. Still, he felt terrified just at the knowledge that they had thought to go after Kanda. Because of course, they were right on target with their assumption.

This wasn't Kanda's fight. This was his fight, his and Cross's. Kanda didn't need to get involved. He didn't want Kanda involved. But if Kanda was involved, Allen would have to protect him - even though Kanda would insist rather vehemently that he didn't need protecting at all.

He sighed lightly and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't wait until nightfall to get out of this place. He needed to get out now. He put the papers away and peeked out through the bush again. He was relatively close to the fence, and still far enough away from the security guards. If he climbed the fence and crossed the road, he could hide in the woods while still following the road back to town. It wasn't far to the hotel.

He waited a few moments to gather his thoughts and then sprinted out, climbing fast. He ignored the scratching of the barbed wire as he vaulted the top, falling to the ground on the other side. He then bounded across the street, ignoring the horns of cars and trucks. He didn't stop running until he was safely ensconced in the trees.

His heart pounded with adrenaline, andhe started walking fast, taking care that he was never visible from the road. He absently rubbed the blood off his hands; he doubted the hotel concierge would think highly of him if he came into the lobby all bloody.

It took roughly an hour to get back to the hotel. By then, he was quite tired, and wanted nothing more than to find a bed and go to sleep. But he knew that he couldn't. There was no rest for the wicked, after all. As soon as he entered the lobby, he walked over to the front desk.

"Excuse me," he said quietly. The concierge looked up, took in his disgruntled appearance, and then put a rather forced smile on. "Would you happen to know if a man known as Cross Marian has come by? He's staying here."

"The red-head with the glasses?"

"Yes, that's him! Have you seen him?"

"I'm afraid not, sir."

"Oh. Well, thank you anyways." The concierge nodded and went back to work while Allen went to the elevator. He hadn't really expected an affirmative answer, but it would have made things easier. He didn't know what to do now. Sure, he had a driver's license, but he didn't have the keys to Cross's car. And if he hotwired it – which he knew how to do – he'd still never hear the end of it once Cross came back from wherever he'd run off to.

As the elevator dinged open, Allen walked out into the hallway and down to his room. He pulled out his key card, swiped it, and then walked inside. He knew what he had to do. There was no other way. There wasn't a system of buses that ran this far out. He couldn't take a taxi because he didn't have enough money with him. That really only left one option.

With a sigh, he grabbed his cell phone and started dialing.

* * *

Kanda wanted to kill Komui. He really did. These new uniforms were a complete joke. They were way too tight! He'd called Komui and done his fair share of complaining, but the stupid man had just said that the budget didn't allow for second cuts, so he'd just have to deal with pants that hugged his ass and shirts that cut into his biceps. He was seriously debating whether to take the stupid uniform to a tailor and have it altered.

He huffed when he heard his cell phone ring. He stood up and walked over to where it was, lying on the counter. He didn't even look at the caller ID screen before he flipped it open. "What?" he asked flatly.

"That's no way to greet someone."

Kanda blinked. That was…Allen? Why was the Moyashi calling him? "Moyashi?" he said, sounding faintly surprised. "What do you want?"

"I…I need some help," Allen said quietly.

Kanda didn't understand. Allen was on another super-spy mission with his bastard guardian. Why did he need help? And he didn't like the brat's tone of voice either – it was tired, but apprehensive and frazzled, as if he didn't even know where to start with something. "What?"

"Cross is gone."

Well, that was blunt. "Gone?"

"Yes," Allen said. "We went into the warehouse and were separated, and all of a sudden there was this explosion and gunshots. He told me to run, so I went outside, but then his communicator went dead. I went back inside later and there was this big bloodstain on the floor where he was. I have no idea what happened to him."

"Is he dead?"

"I don't think so," Allen said slowly. "It would take a lot to bring him down. He's like a dandelion. They just don't want to die off easily."

"Che, what a stupid analogy," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "What do you need my help with?"

"I don't have any way to get home," Allen said, sighing. "I didn't bring enough money for a cab."

"Doesn't Cross have a car?"

"Yes, but I don't have his keys," Allen replied. "And if I try to hotwire it, he'll murder me."

"If he's not dead," Kanda pointed out.

"Even if he is dead now, I would like my afterlife to be peaceful, thank you very much," Allen said wryly. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Look, I know you're not happy with me right now, but I honestly have no way to get back. I know this is asking a lot, but could you…is there any way…" There was a sigh. "Could you come get me?"

"…where are you?"

"Woodbury, just across the border," Allen said, his voice sounding immensely relieved. "Just follow the interstate out of town, it's exit 1-B. I'm currently at the Holiday Inn Express."

"Fine."

"Kanda…thank you."

Kanda didn't respond to that. Instead, he just slipped his phone shut and into his pocket before grabbing his coat and keys. It took a few hours to get to where Allen was, which allowed him a bit of time to think. Allen had mentioned that he wasn't very happy with him at the moment. That wasn't precisely true. He wasn't mad at Allen. He just didn't know what to say to him, especially since the…_incident_. Surely Allen felt just as confused by the whole thing as he did?

He didn't stop once as he drove to where Allen was. It was nearing the time he usually ate dinner, but he wasn't hungry tonight. Of course, he suspected the brat would be ravenous. They'd probably have to stop somewhere on the way back. He turned as he saw the exit, grabbing his cell phone in the process. Flipping it open, he quickly dialed Allen's number, which he'd saved from when the other had last called. Allen picked up after only one ring.

"Hello?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm just getting off the interstate," Kanda said flatly.

"Oh, good. I've already checked out of my room, so I'll be in the lobby."

"Fine."

Kanda hung up then, concentrating on finding this hotel. He could see it from where he was, but people who designed roads always had extremely bad planning skills. It always took too much thought to get from one place to another, especially when you were downtown. Whoever came up with the bright idea that downtown areas should be nothing but one-way streets was an idiot.

He pulled into the Holiday Inn parking lot after a few minutes more driving and pulled up to the front door, underneath the awning. He could see Allen sitting inside on a chair, a small bag in his lap. He honked the horn a few times. The other looked up, startled, and then stood up quickly. Kanda reached down to unlock the doors.

"You could've come inside, you know," Allen said reproachfully as he stepped inside the car and shut the door.

Kanda sped off, just barely waiting until Allen had closed his door. "I could have," he allowed, "but I didn't. I hate hotels."

Allen hastily buckled on his seatbelt. "Why?" he asked.

"They're too clean," Kanda said distastefully. "And they smell funny."

Allen sighed. "They smell clean, Kanda," he disagreed. "They've bought this revolutionary new product known as Febreze which helps eliminate odors and airborne bacteria."

"Do you want to die?" Kanda snapped.

"Not particularly," Allen said.

"Then shut up."

As Kanda got back on the interstate, he took a sideways glance at the other. Allen didn't look too good. Sure, there were no immediate wounds, and there wasn't any blood. But a large bruise was forming on one side of his face, his hair was mussed, and he looked rather exhausted. On top of that, there were band-aids placed haphazardly on his hands, as if he'd grabbed a cactus. "What did you do to your hands?"

"What?" Allen asked, surprised. He looked down at his hands, clenching them unconsciously. "Oh. There was barbed wire on the fence outside the warehouse."

"…and you used Hello Kitty band-aids?"

"Hey, they were on sale!" Allen protested.

"And so is the Teletubby shampoo," Kanda smirked. "Do you buy that too?"

"God, you're such an ass."

For a few minutes there was silence. Allen crossed his arms once, and then re-crossed them a few moments later. He continued shuffling around, making little, jerky movements that were really getting on Kanda's nerves. Whenever they hit a bad patch of road, the brat would start a bit, sitting straight up in his seat. By the time they got to mile 140, he couldn't take it anymore. "Stop doing that!" he said hotly.

"Doing what?" Allen asked quietly.

"Fidgeting!" Kanda snapped. "You keep moving like you have freaking Tourettes!"

"Well, excuse me!" Allen said. "I'm just agitated!"

"By what?" Kanda demanded. "Your Strawberry Shortcake panties in a bunch?"

"I don't wear panties!" Allen snapped back.

"Then stop acting like a fucking girl and fidgeting!" Kanda roared, completely fed up now. "If you've got something to say, then just fucking say it!"

"I have to move out!"

Kanda swerved out of his lane and into the next, almost hitting the car beside them as he pulled onto the shoulder. He looked over at Allen sharply, whose face looked rather terrified. "What did you just say?" Kanda asked, his voice low.

"I…I can't live with you anymore," Allen said, his breathing a little quicker than normal.

Kanda stared at him for a moment before abruptly pulling back out into traffic. He didn't talk to Allen the entire rest of the way home; he ignored the other's stomach rumblings, ignored the pitifully concealed looks through white strands of hair, and ignored the other's attempts to initiate a conversation. He didn't tear his eyes away from the road once. When he got back to his apartment, he did a shoddy parking job and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Allen followed hesitantly.

He didn't speak again until they were both back in his apartment. "What the fuck was that about?" he demanded.

Allen stopped where he was standing, his bag still clutched in his hand and his jacket still half-way on. When he didn't say anything, Kanda tried a different approach. "Why don't you want to live here anymore?"

"It's not that I don't want to live here," Allen said slowly, finally shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up. He then removed his shoes and set his bag down on a nearby table. "I…can't."

"And why not?" Kanda demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"It's just…I can't." He started walking towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "I'll get my stuff all packed up. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair in a few days or so."

Kanda growled then and grabbed the other by the wrist, slamming him into the wall. Allen grunted in pain and looked up, his silver eyes both startled and angered. "Don't feed me that shit," Kanda spat, truly angry now. "You don't have any other place to live. You can't afford it."

"I can't live with you, Kanda!"

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want to!"

Kanda paused then, staring down at the younger man. Allen was looking at him, his eyes not blinking and his gaze unwavering. But something about the expression wasn't right. It wasn't fiercely determined, as perhaps it should have been; it was resigned. "You're lying," he said.

"What?"

"You're lying," Kanda said again, louder this time. "You do want to stay here."

"Kanda-"

"Tell me the real reason you're in such a panic to leave," Kanda said, cutting him off. "And don't even think about lying this time."

"…you're next."

Now it was Kanda's turn to blink rather stupidly and reprocess what the other had said. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked, frowning.

Allen sighed wearily. "Don't you get it?!" he cried out. "You're next! Somehow they know I live with you, and now they're after you! The NOAH! It's not a game – these people are real. They're crazy and they will stop at nothing to hurt you."

"Why are they after me?"

"Because they know that you're my friend," Allen said quietly, leaning his head back against the wall. Kanda's grip on his wrists slackened a bit. "They think that the best way to get me to stop fighting against them is to take my friends and hurt them." He chuckled darkly. "And the best of it all is that they're completely right. I would turn myself over to them in order to save my friends."

"You're an idiot," Kanda said after a moment.

"I don't expect you to understand my logic."

"Do you really think they could hurt me?"

Allen looked up at him then. "Of course they could hurt you!" he said indignantly. "They have guns, and bombs, and God knows what else! They would kill you without a second glance!"

"I'm not that easy to take out," Kanda said, offended.

"Kanda, these people will kill you," Allen insisted, a desperate look in his eyes now. "What would you do if they just showed up at your apartment one day?"

"Kill them," Kanda said instantly, without even thinking about it. Wasn't it obvious? If something came into your apartment these days, trying to harm you, you had to kill them. You couldn't just beat them away. As corrupt as lawyers were now, they would try to sue you for assaulting a would-be thief or murderer despite the fact that it was _your _home that was broken into.

"Kanda," Allen said, sighing.

"You think I can't?" Kanda asked dangerously, renewing his grip on Allen's wrists. "Believe me, Moyashi, I know more ways to kill a person than you might think are possible, and I could execute two-thirds of them in less than ten seconds."

"I know you can defend yourself," Allen said, shaking his head. "That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"I…I don't want you to get involved," Allen said firmly. Kanda raised an eyebrow then, so the other went into further detail. "This isn't your fight. This has nothing to do with you."

"And that's a good enough reason to move out?" Kanda asked, snorting.

"Yes!" Allen said. "If I move out, the attention will be drawn away from you."

"But they would still attempt to take me because they know I'd still be connected to you," Kanda pointed out.

"Maybe they'd think we had a fight," Allen persisted.

"Moyashi," Kanda said, scowling down at the other then. He was tired of hearing the brat's excuses. He wasn't leaving, and that was that. "You are not moving out of this apartment."

"Oh, yes, I am."

"No, you're not," Kanda said.

"Why?"

"Because we had a deal."

"…a deal?" Allen repeated.

"Since you're still teaching me to play the piano, you can't leave," Kanda said, smirking. "Unless of course, you want to go back on a deal and get the shit beat out of you."

"By who?" Allen asked, frowning.

"By me."

"You wouldn't do that."

"Oh, wouldn't I?"

"I know you don't like me, Kanda, but please, let me go," Allen said, sighing. "This isn't your decision."

"No," Kanda said stubbornly. "You aren't leaving. I can take perfectly good care of myself, Moyashi. So listen here. You may think that you're doing the right thing by trying to move out, but we both know that you'll just end up miserable, staying somewhere you don't like. Stop trying to take the fall for other people. It's annoying."

"But…aren't you scared?"

"Che, I'm not scared of anything."

Allen rolled his eyes. "I…I don't want you to get hurt."

Kanda blinked. "Why not?"

"Why not?!" Allen asked indignantly. "You're my friend, you dumbass! I don't want to see any of my friends hurt! Especially not-" He broke off then, flushing a bit.

Kanda knew then what Allen was trying to say. Of course the stupid little idiot didn't want him to get hurt. He wanted to move out not because he'd like it, but because he was trying to _protect _him. Didn't that just make him want to puke? He didn't need protecting, especially not from people like Allen who needed to be protected themselves.

"Moyashi, you're not leaving," he said quietly.

"I know," Allen said quietly. He smiled faintly. "I knew that you wouldn't agree to this. But it was worth a shot." Kanda quirked an eyebrow at him, and he laughed bitterly. "Okay, no it wasn't."

"I don't need protecting," Kanda informed him.

"I know that."

"I don't need you trying to look after me."

"I know that too."

"Then why are you trying so hard here?"

"I don't know," Allen said, sighing. He let his head fall forward then, his face partially obscured by his hair. When he looked up again, he had a bittersweet smile on his face. "Maybe it's because you're the first person I've ever met who doesn't feel sorry for me."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kanda demanded, frowning.

"Maybe I just like you," Allen said, shrugging, and completely not answering the question. "Maybe that's why I convinced myself that I had to get you to agree to this, even though I knew you never would."

"…you sound like a girl."

Allen snorted. "I suppose I do." There was a lull then, Allen staring at the floor, a calm expression on his face now, while Kanda stared at Allen. "Are you going to let me go now?" Allen returned his silvery gaze to Kanda. "This really isn't a very comfortable position. My arm's asleep."

Kanda blinked, looking down at his face. Allen was staring up at him expectantly. "How do you know I don't feel sorry for you?" he asked quietly, staring intently as the expressions moved across Allen's face. First, there was surprise, then thoughtfulness, and then that soft smile that the other seemed so good at giving.

"It's against everything you are, Kanda," Allen said quietly, still smiling at him. "In your world, anybody can be anything they want to be if they work hard enough for it. So there's no point in feeling sorry for someone, because if you want it bad enough, you can get it. You can make yourself into whatever you want to be."

Kanda was a bit startled by that. Now that Allen mentioned it, that was his view on most people. People weren't defined by who they used to be, what they used to do. You were defined by who you _were, _what you did, what you were going to do. The past was the past – there was no point in changing it. If you wanted something, go after it. It was a very simple mindset, but still quite powerful. What surprised him more was that Allen had seen it before he himself did.

Before he realized what he was doing, Kanda leaned down and pressed his lips against Allen's. He felt the younger man go still against him. But he didn't press the kiss. It lasted for merely a moment before he pulled away. Allen was still staring up at him. He let go of Allen's wrists then and walked away to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Lavi had been right. Allen could see things that people couldn't see. Allen was different from anyone he had ever met. Maybe that was why Kanda was attracted to him – he was the very personification of what Kanda believed. Allen was proof that if you wanted something badly enough, you could get it. Even if you had to work three jobs – one of which you had to crossdress for – and live in a crappy apartment to get there. Of course, that didn't quite cancel out the fact that Allen annoyed him to no end.

But it was a start.

* * *

"I don't know, Marian."

Cross sighed, swishing around the wine in his glass absently. It wasn't a very good wine either. It had only aged twenty or years or so. He preferred an older wine – not quite a cognac, but definitely older than twenty years. "Would you really turn me out, Tiedoll? After all those times I helped you?"

Tiedoll blinked. "What times?" he asked rather blankly.

"I have nowhere else to go."

"You have a house, or at least an apartment," Tiedoll pointed out.

"Yes, but the NOAHs are expecting me to go back to my apartment," Cross pointed out. "If they've figured out that I'm not dead, it's the first place to go. It's bad enough that I'm losing my car because of this. There's a chance my apartment can remain unscathed."

"That's not even your favorite car," Tiedoll said, frowning.

"It is now."

Tiedoll shook his head. "You know, I retired in order to get away from all of this government business," he said, leaning back into the couch. "I didn't want to deal with it anymore. I don't want my sons to go down the path I took. I wanted to distance myself from it."

"Housing me for a few weeks isn't going to change that," Cross said reasonably.

"And if they trace you here?"

"They won't," Cross said, his eyes flashing. "You know I'm the best in the business, Tiedoll. If there is one thing I can assure you, it is that I am very good at hiding. They will not be able to trace me back here."

"And what do I tell Daisya, Marie?"

Cross shrugged. "I'm an old friend who's in town?" he suggested.

"Yes, I suppose," Tiedoll allowed. He sighed again and then smiled sadly over at the red-head. "You always did know to extort people to get what you wanted."

"Is it extortion?" Cross asked, smirking. "I always thought it exhortation."

"With you, the two are rather synonymous," Tiedoll admitted.

"Well, then," Cross said, standing up. "To the basement?"

"Everything should still be there from the last time you came here," Tiedoll said, nodding. "I'll tell my boys not to disturb you, though I don't think that'll be a problem. There's nothing of interest to them in the basement anyways."

Cross nodded and walked to the door that he knew hid the stairs to the lower level. He opened the door then and paused at the door. "Thank you for this, Tiedoll," he said. "I am quite grateful."

"Yes, well…" Tiedoll shrugged it off.

Cross grimaced then. "But good God, man, your taste in wine is horrible."

"I normally don't drink," Tiedoll explained. "I only ever get the stuff when you come."

Cross paused, and then nodded. "I'll leave you a list of suitable drinks then."

"That might be best."

* * *

So, now that I've got this chapter done, I'll probably take a break to focus on my other stories. But still, this one will be updated soon because it's kind of my baby at the moment :D

Thanks again for all the reviews!! We're almost to 600!! I never thought I'd get that many for this story, seriously!! You guys are so great!!


	19. Til We Die

So I finally sat down and finished the next chapter, lol. I wanted to respond to all the reviews for last chapter, but I really haven't had much time lately. Sorry!!

Ugh, I have only three weeks left of summer. It's so sad. Plus I've been going on so many college visits lately, I feel like my head is going to explode with all the new information. I don't even want to think about school. And yet...I have to. I was going to try and get this story done by summer's end, but I'm not sure that will happen. I will try, haha!! Because this chapter is the start of the climax, so there's like...five chapters after this? Somewhere around there. That's just a brief estimate.

But this should be a good week. I get a new piercing (unless something goes drastically wrong between now and then, lol) and I'm going with my friend to get her ears double-pierced!! She's so nervous, lol. I've tried to tell her that it doesn't hurt at all, especially if you don't get it done with an actual needle, but she's still freaked out, lol. She's such a piercing virgin, haha.

Thanks again to my wonderful beta, **Dr. Composed** as well as everyone else for all the reviews/faves/alerts!!

* * *

Allen looked up as Kanda entered the living room. He quickly averted his eyes back to the huge bowl of cereal he was eating, mulling the tiny pieces around with his spoon. It had been several days since he had come home from the fateful mission, and Kanda had barely said two words to him. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

Kanda sat down at the table and instantly pulled the newspaper towards him. He tended to eat breakfast when he first woke up – at an insanely early hour, naturally – so by now, he was just wasting time until he had to go to classes. Allen had a lucky free day – he didn't have to work a single shift today. And to be honest, he didn't know what to do with himself.

Having finished his cereal, he picked the bowl up and moved over to the sink, rinsing it out before placing it in the dishwasher. He then started up the machine and looked over to the clock on the stove. It was only eight-thirty. Slowly, he walked back over to the bar and sat down, taking out his cell phone. But there were no messages. Not that he had been expecting any.

He turned his head slightly so that he could half-stare at Kanda from behind his curtain of white hair. The other was studiously ignoring him, reading the paper with a bored expression on his face.

Allen didn't know what to do. Kanda had kissed him – although it had been a small, chaste press of lips and not something truly serious – and then left the room as if nothing had happened. Allen wasn't sure of how to bring it up. Kanda wasn't talking about it – did that mean he regretted it? Part of him wanted to confront the dark-haired man, to demand answers to his questions. But another part said that even if he did that, Kanda would just blow him off.

He looked up as Kanda put down his newspaper with a soft snort. The other stood up and walked over to the door, grabbing his coat, keys and cell phone. His bookbag was lying on the floor against the wall. Without so much as a glance at Allen, Kanda grabbed it and left the apartment. Allen scowled at the closed door then. This was getting ridiculous. Kanda was acting like a stupid five year-old.

He continued scowling even as his phone started ringing. He reached into his pocket and picked it up, answering it without looking at the caller ID screen. "Hello?" he asked, noting that his voice sounded rather toneless.

"Allen!" It was Lenalee. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not really," Allen replied. "Why?"

"Well, you just sound…" she trailed off, unable to summon the right word. "Eh, not so great. Anyways, do you have to work today?"

"Surprisingly, no."

"Really?" she asked, sounding staggered. "That's great! Listen, is there any way I could come over and talk to you for a bit this afternoon? There're a few things that I need to discuss with you."

Allen didn't really feel like talking at the moment. But he couldn't just say no – Lenalee was his best friend, after all. So he sighed internally and forced himself to reply. "Sure. Do you know the address?"

"Yeah, Lavi gave it to me," she said. "Look, I'll be over there in a few hours, okay?"

"Alright."

"See you then!"

"Yeah, see you," he said absently, flipping his phone shut. That would give him plenty of time to take a shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes, as well as get a few errands accomplished. Setting his phone on the counter, he stood up to head to his room. Now that he thought about it, a shower sounded quite nice. After all, Kanda had a very nice bathroom. And since he wasn't paying utilities, it didn't really matter how much water he used, now did it?

* * *

"I still don't understand why you're not talking to Allen," Lavi said, staring at Kanda with a rather confused expression on his face.

"I fucking kissed him, Lavi," Kanda snapped. "Isn't that reason enough?"

"Not really…"

Kanda scowled, picking up a stack of notes to switch from one notebook to another. He had a brief break between his two classes today, so he was using that time to organize his notes. Of course, that had to be the time that Lavi decided to pester him about the stupid brat.

"Well, has he tried talking to you at all?"

"Che, every time I fucking come into the same room as him," Kanda snorted.

"What?!" Lavi yelped. "And you haven't taken the opportunity to talk to him?! Yuu-chan…come on!"

Kanda shot him a dark look. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Ignoring your feelings isn't going to make them go away," Lavi pointed out astutely. For once, he had a serious look on his face.

"And what do you suggest I do?" Kanda snapped, looking up at the red-head angrily. "That I go and tell the fucking brat I like him? And then what? Do you want me to go screw him into the mattress so hard he can't walk for fucking days?"

"Well, that would be a little extreme…"

Kanda cocked an eyebrow.

"The two of you are so romantically inept," Lavi said, shaking his head. "I keep telling you, Yuu-chan, Allen likes you. In the same way that you like him! So what are you waiting for?"

Kanda blinked. What was he waiting for? The kid hadn't drawn away when he'd kissed him, or given him any disgusted looks. He hadn't protested, and nor he avoided Kanda in the days afterwards. It didn't seem as if he was unreceptive, either. Still, he found himself reticent to actually take Lavi's advice and just go for it. Because like it or not, there was always that little voice in the back of his mind telling him that what he was doing was wrong, that he was making a mistake.

"Look," Lavi said, sighing. "As funny as it is seeing the two of you flounder around like a pair of awkward teenagers on their first date, it's more than time the two of you just admitted your feelings and got together. Seriously, you're boring me here!"

"Che, it's not my job to entertain you," Kanda reminded him.

"Heh, you do that without even trying," Lavi said gleefully. "But seriously, Yuu-chan. Think of what avoiding Allen is gonna make him think. For all he knows, you regret kissing him and want nothing else to do with him. I wouldn't understand either if I were in his position."

"If I tell you that I'll talk to him, will you shut up?"

"That depends…you actually gonna do it?"

Kanda glared at the red-head. "Whatever," he said, gathering his notebooks up in his arms. "I have to get to class."

"Aw, Yuu-chan!"

"Shove off," Kanda gritted through his teeth. "I'll go talk to the fucking Moyashi after I'm done here! Now get the fuck away from me."

Lavi smiled. "Alright, then."

* * *

"Allen…I know."

Allen blinked. Lenalee was sitting across from him on the couch, a very serious expression on her face. He frowned a bit in confusion. She knew. That had to be one of the most ambiguous statements she'd ever made. Honestly…what was he supposed to make of that? "I'm sorry," he said slowly, "but I really have no idea what you're talking about."

She sighed. "About you and Kanda, I mean," she said. "I know."

He paused, waiting to see if she'd say anything else. "I'm going to need more than that, Lenalee," he finally said when it became clear that that was all the information she was giving.

"I know about the kiss!" she said quickly, the words so rushed that he could barely discern them.

He stared at her then, frowning. She knew about the…kiss…? But…Kanda wouldn't have told anyone…would he? He found himself flushing involuntarily, not sure of what to say in response to that. Because he certainly couldn't deny it.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I knew," she continued, looking slightly embarrassed. "But I didn't know what to say."

"Who…told you?" he asked quietly.

"Lavi," she replied. "Apparently, Kanda let it slip out."

Allen felt a pang of hurt hit him then. Kanda had just let it "slip out", huh? That meant that he hadn't meant to admit it in the first place; it had probably just popped out in a moment of anger, knowing Kanda. That meant that…that Kanda regretted what had happened. It was no wonder that Kanda was avoiding him like the plague now. It all made sense.

"Ah…I see…" Allen said blankly, unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fists in his lap.

"What's going on with you two, Allen?" Lenalee asked quietly.

"Absolutely nothing," Allen replied truthfully.

"…are you alright?" she asked, frowning. "You seem a bit…off today."

"I'm fine," he said quickly, smiling rather wanly at her.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," he said firmly.

"Well, okay…" she said, still not looking convinced. "So there's nothing going on between the two of you?" He shook his head. "Then why did he kiss you?"

"It…it was just an accident," he said, figuring that was probably the only logical answer. Obviously, Kanda didn't like him. What other option did that leave?

"How do you accidentally kiss someone?" Lenalee asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"It's Kanda," he said, chuckling a little. "I'm sure he'll find an excuse."

At that moment, the phone rang. Allen excused himself and stood up, walking over to get it. He didn't normally answer the landline – he wasn't normally there _to _answer it - but this time, he figured that he had an excuse. "Hello?" he said after he'd put the phone to his ear.

"Ah, yes, I'm calling for a Mr. Allen Walker?"

"That's me," Allen said, frowning.

"Ah, wonderful! This is Bak Chan, from the clinic downtown!" a cheerful voice said. "How are you? It's been a while."

"Oh, I'm doing fine," Allen said, the frown fading. "And you?"

"Can't complain," Bak said. There was the sound of papers being shuffled. "So, I understand that you've moved in with Kanda." His tone was suggestive.

"Yes, but only because I forgot to pay the rent on time for my original apartment," Allen said clearly, trying to clear up any misunderstandings. "Kanda is just letting me stay here until I find another place."

"…is that all?"

"Believe me, Kanda has made his hatred for me perfectly clear, especially as of late," Allen said, smiling sadly. "There is nothing else going on between us."

"Oh…what a pity…" Bak said, sounding sincerely disappointed. "You were so perfect for him." There was an awkward silence, and more paper shuffling. "But anyways! I contacted the government about your arm, and I have some good news for you! They are fully willing to pay for the operations that it would take to remove the lesions from your arm."

"Really?!" Allen asked incredulously. "But I don't have insurance!"

"Yes, well…" Oh. Allen understood now – there was a catch. "You see, Allen…there haven't been any cases of xanthoma disseminatum this severe in years. They…well, they would like to study you."

"Study me?" Allen repeated, frowning.

"They'd like to run some tests and document the entire process of the removal, from the operation to the aftercare," Bak clarified. "You would be paid, of course, for letting them study you. It's a classic case; it happens all the time with rare conditions."

"They…they're not going to do anything…risky, are they?" Allen asked slowly.

"I wouldn't think so," Bak said. "I've looked through all the procedures they'd like to do, and none of them are even slightly out of the ordinary. Of course, I don't know how many of these have actually been used on patients with cases like yours, but that's the experimental part of it. So, what do you say?"

"Well, I'll have to think about it," Allen said carefully. "I mean, I would have to see what I can do with my schedule."

"Ah yes, that is certainly understandable," Bak said. "But their offer is good for up to a year before we'd have to resubmit our claims. So you have ample time to discuss this."

"Alright," Allen said. "I'll look at it."

"If you'd like, I can have some of the information mailed to you," Bak offered.

"That would be great," Allen said genuinely.

"Perfect! I'll have Fou drop them off at your apartment later today." There was a yell in the background and then something metal hit something hard. Allen winced, perfectly able to imagine an angry Fou throwing something dangerous at the doctor. "Look, Allen, I've got to go," Bak said quickly.

"Of course," Allen said, equally as quickly.

"It was lovely talking with you!"

Allen hung the phone up then.

"Who was that?"

He spun around quickly, startled, having forgotten that Lenalee was still sitting on the couch. "Oh," he said, breathing out in relief. "Well, actually, Kanda recommended me to a doctor that he knows who specializes in treating patients with low income. He's…well, he submitted a proposal to the government asking for coverage for the surgery it would take to fix my arm."

"What?" Lenalee asked, her jaw dropping.

"Yeah, I know," Allen said, scratching his head sheepishly. "And they've agreed to pay too in exchange for being able to run some tests on me before and afterwards."

"Allen, this is huge!" Lenalee exclaimed happily. She immediately jumped up off the couch and came over to give him a bone-crushing hug. When she let go of him, she couldn't help but squeal in excitement, putting her hands on his shoulders. "I'm so excited for you!"

"Well, I still have to think about whether or not I should accept," Allen pointed out.

"Why the hell would you decline?!" she asked, giving him an are-you-stupid look.

He sighed. "I'd just have to see if it would fit into my schedule," he replied quietly. "And every doctor I've been to has told me that there's a high probability that the lesions will just grow back. So I wonder if having the surgery would even matter in the end…"

"Well, it's up to you."

"I know," he said. "Listen, Lenalee…can I talk to you about something?"

"That's what I'm here for!" she said, smiling winningly at him.

They walked back over to the couch and sat down. Allen fiddled nervously with his hands for a moment before finally deciding on what to say. "I…well, you know about the kiss," he said quietly. Lenalee nodded. "And…while I don't know what Kanda feels towards me – if anything – I think…well…I think I may've…fallen for him…"

"Just earlier you were telling me that nothing was going on between the two of you," Lenalee replied slowly.

"Well, nothing is going on," he admitted. "But…I don't know, Lenalee…I've never felt this way for another person…it's weird."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I know that he's just teasing me, or just bickering with me," he explained. "So I don't take what he says to heart. But then, there are other times when he says things and they really…I just feel really hurt. And I feel comfortable around him. He knows about my arm, you know. And…and he doesn't care!"

"So you are gay?" she asked bluntly.

He sighed. "I don't think so," he said. "It's more like…I've just happened to fall for…Kanda."

"…so you're Kandasexual?" she guessed.

He flushed. "Well, I suppose," he muttered.

"So. You like Kanda."

"Yeah," he said softly. "But he doesn't like me back."

"And how do you know that?" she asked.

"He didn't mean to kiss me, Lenalee," he said, smiling faintly at her. "It was an accident. He only let it 'slip out' in a moment of anger; he never planned on telling anyone because he hates that it happened in the first place. He's been avoiding me too. He won't talk to me, or even look at me. He regrets that it ever happened."

"Allen…"

"Don't try and convince me that it's not true!" he said quickly, not wanting to hear her sympathetic words. "I…just…well, you should know, since you're my best friend. Please, don't do anything drastic. I just…wanted you to know how I feel."

"Then what are you going to do?" she asked after a moment.

"Well," he said, thinking about it, "I'll probably look for some apartments today. Of course, I kind of want to move up a step from my last home, so I'll probably have to take on another job, maybe two…so I should look for applications."

"You're moving out?" she asked, surprised.

"I have to," he said solemnly. "Kanda's only letting me stay here until I find another place; he said so himself. Besides, the way things have turned out, I'm sure Kanda's uncomfortable having me stay here. It'll be better if I move out."

"Allen, I don't really think-"

"I've made up my mind," he said firmly. "It's not going to change anytime soon."

She stared at him for a moment, and then stood up abruptly. "Fine," she said. "If that's how you're going to be, I'll just leave you alone to find your new apartment. Good luck." She smiled tightly at him before turning around and leaving. He stared after her, feeling incredibly guilty. He'd basically told her that he didn't need her advice after all, and that she should stay out of his business. But she didn't need to get involved.

So with a sigh, he got up and went to go retrieve his laptop.

* * *

To say that Lenalee Lee was furious would be a vast understatement. She was so mad, she was beyond being angry – quite a lovely paradox, wasn't it? As the elevator doors dinged open, she stalked out into the apartment lobby, clutching her purse to her side as if she were afraid she was going to get robbed. She stopped suddenly when she noticed exactly who had just walked in through the front door – namely, Kanda Yuu.

"You," she breathed out, her eyes narrowing.

Kanda looked up, an impassive expression on his face. He had his schoolbag over one shoulder and several binders full of notes in his arms. He raised an eyebrow when he saw her accusatory stare. "What?" he asked flatly.

She quickly walked over to him and grabbed his arm, yanking him back towards where she had seen an empty meeting room. He scowled at her and tried to pull his arm away, but she wasn't having any of that! She pushed him into the empty room and closed the door swiftly behind her.

He turned around to face her, an irritated expression on his face now. "What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded crossly. "Trying to rip my arm out of its socket?"

"You are an absolute asshole," she informed him scathingly.

He blinked, and then his scowl deepened. "Thanks for the update," he said sarcastically. He made as if to leave the room.

"Oh, no you don't!" she said, kicking him back. He glared at her before finally setting down his books and plopping into an empty chair.

"What the hell do you want?!"

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to Allen?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not doing anything to him."

"Oh, really?" she snapped. "Come on, Kanda! You won't even look at him!"

"How do you know that?" he asked, his expression changing to one of guarded curiosity.

"I've just spent the past half-hour or so talking to him," she informed him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did you know he's planning on moving out?" His eyes widened slightly. "Because he doesn't want _you _– the ungrateful louse you are – to be uncomfortable. Never mind the fact that he'll have to take on another two jobs to even afford a down payment!"

"He's not moving out," Kanda interjected. "That was just a misunderstanding he and I had."

"Au contraire, Pierre, he's looking at apartment complexes right now."

"But I told him not to."

"Oh, really? So was this before or after you stopped speaking to him? Was it before or after you started treating him like absolute crap?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, standing up again. "I haven't done a single thing to the fucking brat!"

"Don't call Allen a brat!" she said indignantly. "And you know perfectly goddamn well what you're doing to him! You know he likes you, and you're just taking advantage of the fact!"

"What?!" he yelled.

"You kissed him," she said smugly. "And now you're avoiding him as if he's infected with some disease! He's convinced himself that it was an accident. Do you know how horrible he probably feels right now?! He likes you, and you're treating him like a dog!"

Kanda stared at her for a minute, in absolute silence. His eyes were wider than Lenalee had ever seen them. "He…likes…me?" he asked quietly after a moment or two.

"How many ways do I have to say it for you to understand?" she snapped. "He likes you! Il t'aime! Kare wa anata ga suki desu!"

"Don't talk to me in Japanese," he snapped at her darkly. "Your accent is horrible."

"Well, excuse me for only having a basic understanding of the language," she muttered. They stood there in a rather awkward silence for a moment. "So…" she began quietly, her anger having faded a bit. Instantly, his dark eyes flicked to her. "What are you going to do?"

He snorted. "Obviously, I have to talk to the idiot," he said.

"Don't be mean to him!" she warned.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"And no sex yet!"

His only response was a rather heated glare.

* * *

Kanda slammed the door to his apartment shut behind him; Allen jumped at the sudden noise, turning to stare at him with wide gray eyes. They returned to their normal size upon seeing Kanda. "Ah, hello," he said hesitantly. Kanda merely grunted, shrugged his schoolbag off his shoulder and set his notes down on the nearby table. He then shucked off his shoes and hung up his coat before stalking over to the table where Allen was sitting.

Sure enough, on the screen of his laptop was a list of available housing in the surrounding area. Scowling, Kanda reached out and slammed the laptop shut. Allen looked up at him indignantly. "What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"Do you know who just accosted me?" Kanda asked seethingly.

"You were accosted?" Allen asked, frowning.

"Yes, by your psychotic little friend," Kanda snapped. "And do you know what she said, Moyashi?"

"…what?" Allen asked, eyeing him nervously.

"She said that you were looking at nearby apartments," he replied. "That you're looking to move out. She also mentioned something about you looking for available jobs in order to be able to afford said apartment." Allen stared up at him, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "Is that true?"

"Well…"

"Answer the question!"

"Um…yes?"

"I told you – you aren't moving out of here, Moyashi," Kanda said darkly.

"But you don't want me here," Allen said, confused.

Kanda paused. "What?" he asked flatly. "If I didn't want you here, believe me, you wouldn't be here. So stop with the bullshit."

"Kanda, you haven't said anything to me in days!" Allen protested. "And you won't even look at me! How on earth am I supposed to interpret that?!"

"Obviously, it meant I needed time to think."

"Think?" Allen repeated. "Think about what? What is there to think about?"

Kanda paused for a second. This was it then. Their relationship was so strange – there was no way it could continue on as it had been previously. It had to change, because of their changing feelings. And he had to see if what Lenalee and Lavi had said was right. "Do you like me?" he asked bluntly.

Allen froze where he was sitting. After a moment or so, he asked in a shaky voice, "What?"

"It's a simple question," Kanda said, rolling his eyes. "Do you like me?"

"Of c-course I like y-you," Allen stuttered. "Why w-would I live here if I d-didn't?"

"I don't mean it like that," Kanda said, narrowing his eyes. "Do you _like _me?"

Allen flushed then. He lowered his head a bit, enough so that Kanda couldn't see his eyes. Oh, that was a clever trick. Whatever crackjob had said that the eyes were the window to soul had been right – probably on drugs too, but still right. So he reached over and pulled on that white hair until Allen was staring at him again. "Answer the question," he said quietly.

Allen took a deep, shaky breath. "I didn't want to tell you," he whispered. "Because I know you don't feel the same way. And you're my friend. I didn't want to lose that because of…this." Allen stood up then, looking at the floor. Kanda thought he looked like he was about ready to cry, but there weren't any tears in his eyes just yet. He let go of his hair then, his head falling limply to his side. Allen started to walk away, around the opposite side of the table.

But just as he was almost out of reach, Kanda grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back so that the other was flush against him. He then moved the arm so that it was on top of the other's head, and not tugging on his wrist. "You…are an idiot," he said flatly.

Allen looked up at him then. "What?" he asked, puzzled.

Now it was Kanda's turn to flush – but just slightly! "Not to mention you have the brain capacity of a fish," he said sardonically. Allen's eyes widened a bit, but he didn't have time to say anything. Kanda had already leaned down and captured Allen's lips in a kiss. It wasn't the same as the previous one – this one wasn't chaste, wasn't simple, wasn't a mere touch of lips. It was much stronger; and this time, Allen responded.

It was hesitant at first, just a slight counter back. But Kanda instantly felt it. And as soon as he did, he deepened the kiss, licking Allen's bottom lip. Allen made a noise of surprise, his mouth falling open as he did so. Kanda easily took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside. He heard Allen moan quietly when he moved his tongue against the boy's. He couldn't help but smirk at that.

Slowly, he steered them towards the wall, all the while, continuing the kiss. His hands had somehow moved up to grip at Allen's biceps; the other's hands were lying flush against his chest. A few moments later, and Allen began to move his tongue back, so that it wasn't a one-sided dance anymore. Kanda didn't waste any time in picking up the pace.

It was Allen who broke the kiss, pulling away and gasping for air. His lips were slightly swollen from the contact, not to mention wet. He looked up at Kanda dazedly. "You kissed me," he said accusatorily.

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see you complaining," he noted dryly.

"No," Allen said blankly, "I don't mind."

Kanda took that as his cue to continue. Somewhere along the line, they ended up moving to the couch, Allen lying flat on his back and Kanda hovering over him. Allen's shirt had been lost in getting from point A to point B, and Kanda's was just barely clinging to his shoulders. They probably would've continued on to different things, had the phone not rang just then. As it was, both of them jerked away when they heard the ringing. "Fucking shitbags," Kanda muttered, sitting up. He got off the couch, grabbing the phone. "What?" he demanded as soon as he'd put it up to his ear. He paused for a minute and then thrust the phone at Allen. "It's for you."

"Hello?" Allen asked, moving to sit upright. He ran a hand through his mussed hair then, trying to smooth it out. "Oh, hello." There was a pause, and then Allen's face bloomed into a brilliant smile. "Ah, no but I haven't checked the mail yet! Thank you very much!" He nodded at the voice on the other end. "I'll be sure to." There was another pause; Kanda crossed his arms over his chest. He always hated this feeling of only hearing one side of a conversation. It made him nervous. "Of course! Bye!"

Allen clicked the end call button then and set the phone down before looking over at Kanda. "Who was that?" the dark-haired man asked, grabbing Allen's shirt off the floor and throwing it at him.

Allen flushed and quickly donned his t-shirt. "Oh, that was Bak," he said quietly.

"Bak?" Kanda repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't know you'd visited him."

"Yeah, a few weeks ago," Allen said absently. He looked up at Kanda then. "He said they've found a way to help pay for the surgery I need."

Kanda blinked. "Really?"

"Well, I would have to agree to let them run some tests on me," Allen said, scratching his head absently, "and I'd have to let them document the whole surgery and recovery process."

Kanda nodded and sat down on the couch then. "Are you going to go through with it?"

"Well, I'll have to think about it," Allen said.

An awkward silence ensued then, neither of them apparently sure what to do. Kanda could see the younger send him glances from the cover of his hair every now and then, as if expecting a harsh comment any minute now. Kanda was just thinking of what to say. Judging from the…earlier actions, it didn't seem as if Allen was opposed to their being in a relationship. But he had to make things clear. He didn't do that hazy mumbo-jumbo shit some people did. He liked boundaries.

"So, just to be clear, you're not moving out," Kanda said bluntly.

"What?" Allen asked, startled. "Oh…no, I guess not. As long as I'm not a bother."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "You're not a fucking bother," he muttered. "And no more jobs. You're already working yourself halfway into the grave."

"Alright," Allen agreed. He looked up then, a determined look on his face. "So, do you…like me back then?"

Kanda gave him an incredulous stare before snorting. "No, Moyashi, I kissed you because I wanted to see if you tasted like a bean sprout as well as resemble one," he said darkly.

"Well, I was just asking!" Allen said defensively. "But…do you?"

Kanda flushed and looked pointedly away. "I don't not like you," he muttered.

To his surprise, Allen laughed at that. He turned his head a bit to see Allen smiling at him knowingly. "Coming from you, that's almost a love confession," he said teasingly.

"If this is how it's going to be, you can kiss your bed good-bye," he said warningly, narrowing his eyes.

"No, no, I was just joking," Allen said, still chuckling a bit. "I know it's-" He broke off as the phone rang again.

Kanda cursed and reached over Allen's lap to grab the phone, making the brat blush in the process. Kanda smirked at him before answering. "What?" he demanded.

"Hello, is this where Allen Walker lives?" a drawling voice asked.

Kanda frowned. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Ah, just an acquaintance," the voice replied, amused. "May I speak to him?"

"You sound like a fucking stalker," Kanda informed the man.

"Oh, trust me, you want to let him talk to me," the man said. Allen tugged on his sleeve then, reaching for the phone. Annoyed, Kanda leaned over a bit then so they could both hear the conversation.

"And why is that?" Kanda demanded.

"Because we have negotiations to make."

"Negotiations?" Allen asked, frowning. "What negotiations?"

"Ah, Allen!" the voice said cheerfully. "I thought this was the right number! This is Tyki Mikk. I trust you remember me?"

"What negotiations?" Allen repeated, flatly.

"Eh, no welcome?" There was a sigh. "But if you must know…the negotiations for an exchange of hostages," the man continued.

"Hostages?" Allen asked, his voice sounding anxious. "What are you talking about?" Kanda turned his head a bit so that he could look down at the other. He didn't like the look on Allen's face – it was beginning to look panicky.

The man chuckled. "We have her, Allen. We have Lenalee Lee."

* * *

Yes. I know. Another cliffhanger.

I couldn't decide whether or not I liked this chapter. I still kind of can't. It's not that I dislike it. It's just...well, it's more serious and not as humorous, and I prefer writing the humorous scenes. They're funny :D But anyways, like I said, this story is drawing to a close. Sad, isn't it? Or at least, it is for me.

Review? Please? :3


	20. Disasterpiece

So yes. Have you ever wanted something really, really badly? And then you finally get the okay and you go to get it and then they tell you that they're sorry but there's been a mistake and you can't get it? It's like taking candy from a fucking baby once you've already put it in its mouth. Yeah, that's basically how I feel right now. I am not having a good day. I would put more here but I feel don't feel like saying anything else, no offense meant to anyone.

* * *

Allen felt all the heat evaporate from his body. It felt as if his blood had turned to ice. Had Kanda not been holding the phone up so they could both hear, he would've long since dropped it. He couldn't speak – his mouth wouldn't work. He stared out the window without really seeing anything; his mind was too busy, only one emotion rushing through his millions of brain cells – panic.

"What the fuck are you on?" Kanda demanded. Allen could distantly hear the other talking, but for some reason, his brain wasn't quite following.

"She's with us," Tyki Mikk continued suavely, ignoring Kanda's question. "And unless you come here and turn yourself in, I'm afraid there's a very high possibility that she won't survive past…let's say…noon tomorrow? But I make no promises."

"Where did you take her?" Kanda asked.

"Their headquarters," Allen said quietly. He blinked – the words had come out of his mouth of their own volition. Kanda turned slightly to look at him; Allen was surprised to note the slight apprehension in those midnight blue eyes.

"Ah, yes, they did mention you were rather intelligent," Tyki drawled, amused. "So, of course, you know where to come to find her."

"What kind of sick bastard drags an innocent girl into their schemes?" Kanda snarled, gripping the phone quite tightly. Allen was vaguely surprised the back panel that hid the batteries hadn't popped off yet.

"Now, now, I don't appreciate being called names," Tyki said, chuckling. "And besides, it wasn't me that picked her up. I've been cooped up in my office all day. Terrible, isn't it?"

"Stupid fucker," Kanda grumbled.

"What are you going to do to her?" Allen asked quietly. He'd regained his sense again. The panic had started to fade, being replaced with worry, but more importantly determination and the beginnings of a plan.

"Well, that all depends on you, Allen," Tyki replied. "If you show up by noon tomorrow and turn yourself in, she'll go free. If you don't…well, I suppose it's off with her head."

"This isn't Wonderland, you fuck-up," Kanda snarled.

"Eh?" Tyki made a noise of surprise. "Of course it's not. And I'm certainly not the Queen of Hearts."

"Can you swear that she'll go free if I turn myself over to you?" Allen asked. He saw Kanda turn to stare at him incredulously, his expression a mix of shock and anger.

Tyki chuckled. "I have a direct order from the Earl himself that she'll go free."

"I'll hold you to that."

Allen slipped the phone out of Kanda's hand then and ended the call, setting the device down on an end table. Kanda was still staring at him; he could feel those dark eyes on him. But he wasn't looking at Kanda. Instead, he was staring out the window, trying to process everything.

Lenalee had been kidnapped by the NOAH to be used as a hostage. They had to have known then that she had come over here today to talk to him; that meant that they not only knew where he lived, they also knew she was close to him. She had probably just been forced into a car waiting on the sidewalk. She was safe until noon tomorrow. He knew that they wouldn't kill her until then because they wanted him. They would wait until he showed up. But that didn't mean they wouldn't hurt her. So they had to act, and act quickly.

He stood up with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Turning around, he saw Kanda still staring up at him darkly. "Can you call Lavi?" he asked, frowning. "He's going to have to know about this."

"What the fuck are you planning?" Kanda asked, eyes narrowing.

Allen blinked. "I have to get Lenalee back, of course," he said simply. Wasn't that obvious? And Kanda said that _he _was the one with the brain capacity of a fish?

"You can't just walk in there and give yourself up!" Kanda snapped, standing up and walking over to him. "Are you crazy? They'll kill you!"

Allen smiled. "I'm touched, Kanda, really," he said teasingly. Kanda's scowl just deepened then. "But believe me, I have no intentions of handing myself over to them."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm going to need your help," Allen replied quietly. "You and Lavi both, actually."

"Why do you need the fucking rabbit's help?"

"Because as stupid as he seems, you and I both know that Lavi is a certified genius," Allen said reasonably. "He's a valuable asset. As long as we can get him to keep quiet."

"Che, there's a fine line between genius and insanity," Kanda muttered.

Allen sighed. "Just because Lavi chose to erase that line doesn't mean he's not useful," he said. "Now, go, call him! We need him over here as fast as possible."

Kanda stared at him for a moment before nodding once and going off to find his cell phone. Allen immediately went over to the kitchen table and restarted his laptop. While that was running, he closed all of the blinds to the windows and made sure that the front door was locked. He couldn't take any chances.

As he sat down at the kitchen table and logged in, he heard Kanda talking to Lavi. For once, it seemed as if the two of them were actually having a conversation, and not just bickering. But considering the circumstances, it didn't really surprise Allen too much. Tuning the words out, he began pulling up files he had stored on his computer, looking over them to start lining up information. He would need to get Lavi and Kanda both familiarized with the layout of the NOAH's headquarters. After all, this time, they would have to be the stealthy ones. Since Cross wasn't here, he would have to act as the front man.

Kanda came over and sat down beside him. "He's on his way," he said quietly.

"Good," Allen said, pulling up a few more files. "So, Kanda…do you know how to use a gun?"

Kanda snorted. "It's not exactly rocket science, Moyashi," he said, smirking.

"Well, yes, but it's a lot harder in practice than it is in theory," Allen pointed out. "It took me months to be able to fire a gun and actually hit the target I was aiming at."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "That's you," he said. "Not me."

Allen scowled at him then, fighting the urge to stick his tongue out childishly. He fell silent as he began scouring his files, looking for what he needed and picking those out, separating them from the ones he didn't need. "When was the last time you saw Lenalee?" he murmured.

Kanda blinked and then looked at the clock on the stove. "…about twenty minutes ago," he said flatly. "She dragged me into a room, proceeded to tell me how much of an ass I am, and then left."

"They must've been waiting right outside then," Allen said, confident now in his prior hypothesis. "I just can't figure out how they knew she was coming over here in the first place…unless they saw her by chance and did something spur of the moment. They could have the apartment building staked out…"

"Why did they take her in the first place?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Allen asked. "They're trying to get to me. They're assuming that I'll come and turn myself in to save her, which I technically am. But they aren't stupid, either. They are probably going to assume that I will take some backup with me. Which is why you and Lavi aren't going to enter the building until I've already pretended to turn myself in."

"What?" Kanda demanded, leaning forward. "I thought I made myself clear, Moyashi!"

Allen sighed. "I'm not really going to hand myself over to them," he explained. "It's a trap. You and Lavi will be able to hear everything I'm saying, and you'll know when to enter the building. From then, you can come and create a diversion, which will let me escape with Lenalee."

"Are you sure that will work?"

Allen paused and turned to look at Kanda. To his surprise, Kanda's face wasn't showing any emotion. It was curiously blank. There was still a bit of apprehension in his eyes, but it was muted now. "I can't make any promises," he replied softly. "But we've got to try, or else Lenalee will be dead." Kanda continued to stare at him for another moment or two and then looked away with a single nod.

There was a loud knock on the door just then. Allen stood up before Kanda and walked over, peering through the peephole before he unlocked it to reveal Lavi. To say the red-head was a wreck would've been an understatement. He was fidgeting nervously, his hair was disheveled and his clothes were in disarray. His eyes were fearful. Allen quickly ushered him inside and then shut the door, locking it back. No sooner was he finished than Lavi grabbed him tightly, making him yelp in surprise.

"Allen, what's happened?" he asked frantically. "What's going on?"

"Lavi, calm down," Allen said quickly, trying to pry the red-head's arms off him.

"Calm down?!" Lavi repeated. "How the hell can I calm down?! My girlfriend just got abducted by some freakshow terrorist organization and she'll be dead by tomorrow afternoon!"

Kanda then came over and grabbed Lavi by the shoulder, forcibly making him sit in a chair. "Keep your hands off him," he growled. "And stop acting like a moron."

"It's fine, Kanda, it's a normal response," Allen said. He grabbed his laptop off the table and moved to sit on the couch. Kanda joined him a few moments later. Lavi still had a completely dumbstruck look on his face. "Listen, Lavi…" That emerald eye latched onto him immediately. "There's something I have to tell you. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about this."

"Allen…what the hell is going on?" Lavi asked slowly, his face turned down into a frown.

Allen took a deep breath before beginning his divulgence. "Lavi, Lenalee has been kidnapped by a terrorist organization known as NOAH," he said quietly. "Me and my guardian – a top spy for the government – have been working on foiling their plans and apprehending them for several years now. They took Lenalee because they're trying to get to me."

"…"

"Kanda and I are going to go and get her back," he continued, unsure of whether this entire conversation was getting through the red hair to the mind beneath. "And we could really use your help."

"So…this is all because of…you?"

Allen winced and looked down for a moment guiltily. Because technically, Lavi's accusation was right on target – Lenalee had been kidnapped because of their friendship. "Unfortunately, yes," he replied. "But I'm going to do my damnedest to get her back!"

"My girlfriend's been kidnapped because of you."

"He's affirmed that several times, you moron," Kanda snapped.

Lavi blinked then before running a hand through his hair, laughing nervously. "Eh, sorry," he said quietly. "Kinda freaked out there for a minute."

"It's me that should be sorry, Lavi," Allen said. "I never intended for her to get caught up in this."

"If you did, I would deck you," the red-head said, quirking a smile at him. "But seriously…you're a spy?"

"Well, technically…" He broke off at the expression on Lavi's face – it was so intent, so determined. He couldn't force himself to deny it then (even though technically he was still just apprenticed to Cross and not really a spy himself) when Lavi was so obviously trying to focus on something other than his girlfriend being kidnapped. He sighed. "Yes, Lavi, I'm a spy."

"That's so cool! So do you have like a gun?"

"It's just a Glock G21," Allen said quickly. "I don't have any machine guns."

"But still! That's like a gun! So do you have a license to kill?"

"Well, it kind of comes with the territory," Allen said, frowning.

"So how many people have you killed?"

"Lavi, shut the fuck up!" Kanda barked then, his hands clenched into fists. The red-head turned to look at him then.

"Sorry, Yuu-chan," he said blankly, looking away.

Allen shot Kanda an aggravated look. Great! Now Lavi was moping again. "Alright, Lavi, so I need to know…is there any way you're going to be able to help us get Lenalee back?"

"Of course, Moyashi-chan!" Lavi said brightly. "I wanna be her knight in shining armor, her Prince Charming! Metaphorically speaking, of course. I don't do tights. And horses smell funny."

Allen smiled. "Alright then," he said. "Let's get to work."

* * *

"This can't be legal."

Allen smirked over his shoulder at the frown in Kanda's voice, his hands busy locking the door behind him. "I wouldn't have thought you were such a stickler for mere _legalities, _Kanda," he said teasingly. The other scowled at him. He just shrugged it off and walked over to the various trunks across the room. They were currently in the office of Cross's restaurant – or more importantly, Cross's weapons cache. It was near three in the morning, and they'd finally gotten their plan mapped out. Now all they needed was a little extra firepower.

"Che, I'm not," Kanda replied. "I'm just saying."

"So, Moyashi-chan, where are the goods?" Lavi asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly. Allen was secretly worried about the red-head – on the surface, he seemed eager to help and perfectly fine. But he could tell that Lavi was only barely pushing back the panic. That, at least, made Allen slightly happy – this guy really cared for Lenalee. He was light years ahead of the other guys she'd dated, especially the last one – some loser named Chaoji. He was pretty sure it had just been a dare to date the guy, but still…

Allen walked over to a trunk and bent down, moving the dials on the old-fashioned lock until it sprung open. Flipping open the lid, it revealed old letters and documents pertaining to the restaurant – but of course, that was just disguise. Moving his fingertips along the top of the lid, he waited patiently until he found a small indentation. He pressed it, and the tray holding the papers popped up. Smiling, he lifted this out.

"Holy…shit," Lavi breathed, coming up to stand behind him. "There's gotta be…ten guns in there!"

"Only eight," Allen corrected, leaning down. He quickly pulled out two small handguns, handing one to Kanda and the other to Lavi. After that, he replaced the tray and closed the trunk, resetting the combination. He stood up then, dusting off his hands. "Right, then. I know that guns are the easiest way to take someone down, but please don't use them unless you absolutely have to."

"Why?" Kanda asked, eyes narrowing. "If this is about aim, you can-"

"Kanda, I don't really care to find out where I can shove my bullshit, thank you very much," Allen said, interrupting the other. Lavi cackled at that, for which Kanda sent him a very heated glare. "I'm doing this for your own good. Unlike me, you two don't have a license to kill. Even if you're doing the public a favor by taking out one of these terrorists, you're still killing someone. The least you'll get off with is community service, parole and a writ on your permanent record."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Lavi asked curiously.

"Don't kill anyone," Kanda said, rolling his eyes.

"Kanda's right," Allen said, nodding once. "Just try to deter them. Hitting them is okay. Knocking them out is nice too. Only kill someone if you absolutely have to. As in a life-or-death situation."

"So what else do we need?"

Allen quickly opened up another of the trunks and handed out several more of the transmitters he used to communicate with. He instructed the both of them to put them on, and then explained what the buttons did. He gave them each a set of lock picks, several knives, the special watches they used that could tell time, serve as a flashlight and self-destruct, as well as some grenades, dynamite and matches.

"Don't use the dynamite until I tell you to," Allen instructed. "We'll need that for a diversion. The same goes for the grenades." After he got nods out of his two new accomplices, he stood up and walked over to what most people assumed was a storage closet. He quickly opened the doors and reached back through the clothes to find the handle that allowed the back panel to swing open, revealing a closet for a much different set of clothes.

He handed them both bullet-proof vests and instructed them to put them on under their clothes. Before they had left Kanda's apartment, he had made sure that they were all wearing dark clothes and working shoes. Kanda had griped a bit about having to share his clothes with Lavi, but Allen had eventually gotten him to relent. He waited patiently as they put on the armor before closing the closet.

"Aren't you going to wear one of these things, Moyashi-chan?" Lavi asked, frowning.

Allen shook his head. "I can't," he said. "If I'm going to be the decoy, I can't have it looking like I'm prepared for a fight. I'm not even going to be carrying a gun."

"What?" Kanda asked flatly.

"Don't worry, I'm going to let you carry it until I can get away," Allen explained. "It will work out."

"It had better," Kanda threatened.

"Aw, how sweet!" Lavi said, sighing. "Yuu-chan's worried about his Moyashi!"

"Say that again and I'll blow your fucking head off," Kanda growled, swinging his gun up to aim at Lavi's head.

Lavi laughed. "Aw, Yuu-chan, I've known you too long for you to be bluffing like that!" Kanda cocked the gun, and Lavi gulped, the smile easing off his face. "Alright, alright, you're so touchy." He shook his head. "And they said that being in love was supposed to mellow you out."

"Just shut up!"

* * *

Lenalee was terrified.

She couldn't see – the heavy black cloth over her eyes was so tight that she couldn't even cross her eyes and see out the bottom. She couldn't speak, either – the gag in her mouth would draw blood if she did anything to make it press harder against the corners of her mouth. She could tell that she was sitting on a chair. Her legs were bound to the chair's, and her wrists stuck through the slats in the back, tied together with a knot so huge she couldn't get it out. But worse than that was the knowledge that she had no idea what was going on.

She remembered leaving Allen and Kanda's apartment building after having berated Kanda for being an ass. She'd started to walk down the street to where her car was parked. But then everything went black. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here, or why she was tied up. She was trying her best not to panic, but it was hard when you had no idea what was going on.

She tensed when she heard a door open suddenly; it sounded large and metal, and shut with an audible thud. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the soft, even footsteps come towards. Whoever it was stopped just a few feet away from her. Even though she couldn't see them, she found herself clenching her eyes shut tightly. She gasped slightly when the gag was forcibly removed from her mouth and then dropped in her lap.

"Well, well, Miss Lenalee Lee," a soft voice said.

"Who are you?!" she asked, her voice shaking. "Where am I?!"

"You don't need to know who I am," the suave voice continued. "And even if I told you where you were, you wouldn't really know. We're not really inside town anymore."

"Why?"

"Why? I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific when asking questions, dear."

"Why have you taken me here?! What did I do to you?!"

There was a low chuckle. "Oh, you didn't do anything," he informed her; he sounded quite amused that she'd even thought that. "You are simply here because you mean something to the person we really want."

"What are you talking about?"

There was a sigh. "Allen Walker," the voice said slowly. Lenalee felt the blood in her veins turn to ice; suddenly, she felt like she was going to be sick. "He is a nuisance to our company, and as such, must be eliminated. You are close to him, his best friend, in fact. Surely the easiest way to get to a person like Allen is through you."

"You sick bastard!" she spat out, the dread still creeping through her nerves. She felt very heavy, as if her bones were now lead and her blood just paste, barely being pushed through her system.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be fine," the man assured her. "We're not going to kill you."

Her breath caught in her throat at that. "Why?" she managed to gasp.

"There's no point in killing you," he said bluntly. "If there was something to gain from your death, rest assured, you would already be dead. But we need you alive in order to get Allen Walker here."

A sick realization came to her then. "No," she said quietly. "No! No, no, no! You can't! Don't do this, please! No!"

He just chuckled at her again. "I'm sorry, Miss Lee, but it's for the best," he said; contrary to his words, he didn't sound sympathetic at all. "And what are you crying for?" He'd apparently noticed the tears running down her face then. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

"It's not me," she muttered helplessly. "I'm not worried about me."

"Then…? Ah…I see."

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

There was no answer.

* * *

They stood outside the empty factory. It was almost four in the morning now, and Allen was starting to get nervous. He wasn't nervous about risking his life, or anything like that. He'd done that too many times to feel anxious. He was more worried about Lenalee, and Lavi, and Kanda…what happened if something went wrong? He didn't want anything to happen to them. But when he'd mentioned that they might not come out of this alive, they had seemed completely nonplussed.

The front door was unlocked this time. They stepped into the lobby – it looked the exact same as it had the last time Allen had been here. But instead of going towards the factory, he moved to the control room. Steeling himself, he yanked the door open. But there were no guards, surprisingly. Everything was still running. He frowned. That was…weird.

"I want you two to stay here," he said quietly. "You'll be able to see me from these monitors. I'll keep going until I find them and hand myself over to them. As soon as they let Lenalee go, I want you to create the diversion."

"And what if they don't let her go?" Kanda asked quietly. "What if this is all just a ruse?"

Allen turned around then, smiling faintly. "Then I want you to get out," he said simply. "As fast as you can. Run, and don't look back."

"We can't just leave you here!" Lavi protested.

"Lavi," Allen said, taking a breath, "I know you don't want to leave me here. But if I don't get out, I'm not dragging you and Kanda down with me. Chances are, they're not going to kill Lenalee. Even if I die, there's still the chance they'll use her hoping someone else will rescue her. She's become their bargaining chip."

"Bastards," Lavi muttered.

"I don't know what'll happen," Allen said, shaking his head.

"You'd better come out of this alive, Moyashi," Kanda said warningly. Allen looked over at him, surprised at the tone of his voice. "If you die on me, I will never forgive you."

Allen smiled faintly. "I'll try not to," he said.

"Awwwww!"

Both Kanda and Allen turned around to glare at Lavi then. The red-head yelped and quickly turned around, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Kanda rolled his eyes before dragging Allen out of the room and half closing the door. Allen looked up at him questioningly, but Kanda just leaned down and kissed him hard on the lips. It wasn't like the kiss earlier at the apartment. This one was brief, and simple – a warning, a _don't you dare die on me yet_.

And then Allen was pushing Kanda back into the control room, silently telling him to _go do what I told you to, I have work to do. _He waited to make sure the control room door closed before heading down into the factory. It looked the same as it had previously as well – nothing had changed. Still, he was quiet as he walked across the catwalks towards the door at the opposite end of the room. He stopped briefly in front of it for a moment before steeling himself and turning the handle.

There was no one on the other side. Breathing out in relief, he walked over to the elevator and pressed the down button. It instantly chimed and opened; he walked inside and pressed the button for the basement. He was sure that they would be waiting for him downstairs. That had to be why there were no guards in the hallway, why there wasn't anyone in the control room. He wasn't stupid. He had told Lavi and Kanda that they would get Lenalee back – but he knew that was the best case scenario. Things could get much, much worse. And chances were, they would.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. He wasn't disappointed.

The entire room was surrounded by guards holding guns; as soon as he stepped into the room, they moved as one, aiming the weapons at his head. At the other entrance to the room was a group of people, several of whom he'd seen. Tyki was there, and so was the little girl he'd seen earlier in this very room. But the other two – one with dark hair and the other with blonde, both wearing dark eyeliner – he didn't recognize. And in the middle was Lenalee.

She was bound at both the ankles and the wrists, tied behind her back. There was a blindfold over her eyes and a gag in her mouth. Allen felt a pang of guilt hit him then, but he pushed that aside. Now was not the time to be feeling guilty – he had to focus now.

"Ah, you came," Tyki said, smiling. "The Earl is going to be so pleased, you know. He's waited a long time to meet you."

Allen quirked an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware my company was in high demand," he said dryly. He saw Lenalee visibly perk up at his words.

Tyki chuckled. "Oh, yes, you're a little star around here," he said, smirking. "But I have to say…I didn't think you would come so quickly." He paused for a moment before continuing. "And what happened to your friends? The ones you came here with?"

"I sent them away," Allen said smoothly.

"Oh, how noble of you."

"Not really," Allen said, shrugging. "This isn't their fight. But that's not what I came here for." He pointed to Lenalee. "I'm here, so you can release her."

"Ah, yes, I thought it would come to that," Tyki said, shaking his head. "You see, Allen…you and your master have become somewhat of a problem to our entire organization here. A thorn in our side, if you will. And while you are here, we have no idea as to where he is. These two," he jerked his head back at the two boys, "seem to think they've mortally wounded him. But…I don't think so.

"Because, of course, I've fought your master before, and dammit, he's not an easy man to kill," he continued, stepping forward. "We don't just want you out of the picture. He has to go as well."

Allen snorted. "And you think by taking me you'll get to him?" he asked wryly. "Fat chance."

"Maybe not," Tyki allowed. "But I'm willing to bet that he'll come if he thinks you're giving up valuable information that he can't afford to let go of. So we'll be taking you anyways." He motioned to the two boys, who quickly ambled forward with a coil of rope, each holding a shimmering golden gun.

"Oi, kid, hands behind your back!" the one with black hair ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, behind the back!" the other piped up.

"Shut up!"

"Why?! I'm just helping!" the blonde protested.

"I don't need your help!"

Allen rolled his eyes. Wasn't this perfect? The two idiots were still arguing as they came up to him. He could tell that they were the ones who had shot Cross; however…judging from their attitudes, it was obvious to him now that they hadn't killed him. They were completely incompetent. They patted him down first, removing the small weapons he always had concealed. And then they put his hands behind his back and started tying.

"We're sorry about this, Allen," the little girl said, hopping forward. "I really do like you, you know! So I'm gonna be taking care of you from now on! You can be like my little doll!"

"Just don't set him on fire," Tyki said flatly, staring down at the other.

"Oh, that's no fun," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Allen wasn't sure what to make of that, so he opted to say nothing at all. Now that he was finished being bound, the two teenagers went back over to join Tyki, their guns now pointing at each other and scowls on their faces. Tyki stepped forward, ignoring the two of them as his attention was fixed to Allen. "Well, then," he said, running a hand through his dark hair. "Are you ready to go?"

"Go where?"

Tyki chuckled. "Rhode's room, of course," he replied. "Or weren't you listening? She's been quite hospitable, and wants to take you in." The little girl smiled up at him in a manner he could only describe as menacing. "Don't worry – she'll take good care of you."

Allen sighed. He had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. He had hoped that perhaps they would take him to an empty cell. They hadn't taken his lock picks after all – he could get out of a cell and probably escape. Being monitored, however, wasn't the best turnout. That didn't give him as many options. He hoped that Lavi and Kanda could get out easily enough. He hadn't given up yet, of course; he would figure something out. But he wasn't stupid either: he knew there was a good chance that even if he got Lenalee out, he might not come out of this.

Suddenly, the lights all turned out. Allen felt fear stab through him then – it wasn't from the sudden dark, from not being able to see anything. He was scared for the possibility that Lavi and Kanda had done this, the possibility that they would still be here and still in danger. There were angry murmurs all around the room.

"Hold your ground!" Tyki ordered loudly; the murmurs instantly stopped. "I don't know what's going on, but no one move until I say so. Unless, of course, you want a bullet between your eyes." He paused for a moment. "Allen Walker…is this your doing?"

"I'm right here, you idiot," Allen said, rolling his eyes. "I can't do anything."

"Your friends…"

"I told you, I sent them away," he repeated.

"Hmm. What a horrible time for a lighting malfunction…"

Everyone froze as a gun cocked. Now that it had been a few moments, there was a little bit of light scattered about the room, just enough to see shapes and patches of darker darkness that indicated humans. But Allen still couldn't tell who had cocked the gun: was it Tyki, or one of the twins? He stilled. There was a low chuckle across the room. "You know…I thought something like this might happen," Tyki said, amused. "Clearly, I wasn't disappointed. Pity, that – I so wanted things to work out between us." He sighed. "But what's done is done, I suppose."

* * *

Kanda stared at the black screen angrily. "Fucking Moyashi," he muttered under his breath. "What's going on down there?!"

Lavi, who was behind him, leaning over to see the monitor as well, frowned. "Someone must've tripped the lights," he murmured. "But…it wasn't one of us. So who did it?"

"I don't know!" Kanda growled. "Now shut up so I can listen to what the brat's saying!" He pressed a hand to the device in his ear Allen had given him. Lavi did the same, both of their eyes still glued to the monitor in case the lights came back on. Kanda couldn't help but feel cornered, even though he knew that he wasn't really the one in danger. It was an odd feeling, one he wasn't used to feeling. And he didn't like it, not one bit.

_"You know…I thought something like this might happen. Clearly, I wasn't disappointed. Pity, that – I so wanted things to work out between us." _Kanda recognized the voice as the man from the phone call earlier. He scowled unconsciously. _"But what's done is done, I suppose." _There was a pause for a moment. Kanda wondered what was going on, hating the fact that he didn't know, that he couldn't see –

The resounding sound of a gun being fired burst through the entire factory then. Lavi swore and stepped back, holding his head as if he were in pain. Idiot must've been pressing the transmitter too close to his head. But that wasn't Kanda's interest. A gun had just gone off. In the same room that Allen was in. And Allen was surrounded by a bunch of enemies. That could mean only one thing -

Allen had been shot.

* * *

Thanks for reading. I will probably edit the doomy, gloomy rant at the top later, when I'm in a better mood.

Oh, and someone mentioned this earlier...about the chapter titles - they're nothing special. That's just the name of the song I'm listening to when I get finished editing and stuff. It doesn't mean anything special.


	21. Almost Easy

Okay, so first things, first, I want to apologize for that little rant last chapter. I was not having a good day. But I'm better now. And thanks to everyone who left well wishes in their reviews :D

For another thing, I had about half of this chapter edited and then the power blipped because of this stupid major storm going on here right now and lost everything. So I'm doing this for the second time in twenty minutes. Yay.

But anyways. So, sorry this chapter is a bit late in coming out. I know that was a horrible cliffhanger to leave off on last chapter :3 But it's here now!! So this chapter and the next are the main climax of the story. After that, there will probably be one to two chapters to sum everything up, and then perhaps an epilogue. And then...I have to go back to school D: Seriously, where did summer go? I didn't even DO anything this summer and it just FLEW by. But at least this is my last year in high school. Then I'm off!!

Thanks again for all the reviews/faves/alerts!! And even if you don't do any of that, thanks just for reading!!

* * *

For a moment, Kanda did nothing.

He stared blankly at the black screen, hearing nothing but silence on the other end. He could somewhat understand that Lavi was babbling on about something from beside him, but he couldn't care less about what the red-head was saying at the moment. The numbness was quickly turning into anger; but it wasn't the hot, blinding anger that often made you do impulsive and rash things. This was an entirely different kind of anger. It was cold, it was slow and it was infinitely more dangerous.

Pushing the chair back, he stood up. Lavi quieted beside him.

"Kanda?" the red-head asked nervously.

"I don't care what you do," Kanda said quietly, not even looking at the other as he turned around and headed for the door to the control room. "I don't care if you stay in here and keep doing what Allen told us to do; I don't care if you go out there with me and fight that way. But if you just sit on your sorry ass and do nothing, I will kill you with my own hands." He turned around over his shoulder, his eyes hard. "Got that?"

Lavi nodded nervously. "I-I'll stay here and see what I can do to distract people," he said. "I've always been good with computers. Heh, after all, it was me who taught you how to hack into stuff!" He laughed nervously, trailing off when the look on Kanda's face didn't change. He smiled faintly then. "Bring him back, Yuu-chan."

"Che, you don't need to tell me twice," Kanda snorted. Turning around now, he stepped outside the control room and took the only other door out of the lobby. It led him to a series of catwalks that spanned over an expanse of used factory machines. They were all rather dilapidated and rusty – quite dangerous. He slipped over the catwalks silently, moving towards the room's only other exit. He took a quick glance around the room through the single window pane in the door. To his surprise, there was a man just standing there in the hallway.

Frowning, he flung the door open and stepped into the narrow hallway. The man didn't move; in fact, he just smiled rather sinisterly at Kanda. "Move out of the way," the dark-haired man snapped. The man didn't say anything. Kanda narrowed his eyes. Was this man stupid or something? Did he not know the meaning of the word "move"? "Are you retarded?" he demanded.

"I heard you," the man said finally. His voice was deep and slightly stilted, as if he had to think about the words before he said them. "But I'm not gonna let you by." Kanda blinked, and then his eyes widened when the man suddenly rushed down the hallway towards him. He jumped out of the way at the last second. The man just barely avoided crashing into the door. Kanda took that opportunity and rushed back out onto the catwalks, taking full advantage of their intricacy to run off in a different direction.

The man just laughed and ran after him. "Wait up!" he called out. "I don't even know your name yet! We can be friends!"

Kanda couldn't help but snort at that. Yeah, right – as if he wanted to be friends with such a bumbling loser. He had Lavi to fill that role in his life already. Why would he want another idiot there?

He looked over his shoulder to see that the man had stopped on a catwalk directly opposite from him. "I'm Skin Boric," he said happily. "And I'm sorry. But I forgot – we can't be friends. I have to kill you."

Kanda smirked. "You can try," he allowed. He carefully extracted one of the grenades from his pocket. He moved it around to the side and prepared to throw it. He knew that grenades were relatively short-range explosives. But that was all he needed at the moment. As he swung his up, he released the safety lever and chucked it towards the man, using the swing to turn the rest of his body around and away from the blast so he could run in the opposite direction.

He didn't look back to see what happened. And that was why he didn't see his grenade hit a huge tank of propane fuel. So it was only logical that he didn't know what hit him when the catwalk suddenly gave out from under him and he fell to the floor.

* * *

Allen was having one of those moments – the ones where your entire life passes before your eyes, where you see everything you've ever done and think of all the things you wish you'd done, all in a matter of moments. Surprisingly, he didn't feel any pain; his entire body felt numb all over, as if he'd been dunked in a pool of ice water for a few minutes. He wondered absently why he was still standing up, why he wasn't on the ground, and why he didn't feel the blood pouring down his body.

The answer came when the lights unexpectedly flicked back on.

Because the gunshot had not been directed at Allen. Tyki Mikk, who had previously been standing slightly to the side of Allen, had been shot straight through the head. Allen's breath caught in his throat in surprise; he could see all the way through the man's head. For a few moments more, the man's body stood up straight before it slowly buckled to the knees, and then collapsed to the floor, blood spilling everywhere.

And of course, behind him, was Cross Marian.

"You really are completely useless, aren't you?" Cross spat out in Allen's general direction. "Did I teach you nothing?"

Allen let out the breath he'd been holding, relieved. "Well, it wasn't like I had many options," he replied.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Everyone turned to look at the twins, who had completely dumbstruck looks on their faces. Allen noticed that the little girl – Rhode, was that her name? – was on the floor, holding Tyki's face in her hands and ignoring the blood covering her hands. She had begun to cry silently.

"What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?!" the black-haired twin demanded. Allen rolled his eyes at the movie reference; honestly, could people not come up with their own jokes these days? He turned to look at Cross. "You're dead! I shot you!"

"Poorly," Cross snorted derisively. "And besides that, you only nicked the skin."

"How the hell are you still alive?!"

Cross rolled his eyes. "Because I was never dead," he drawled.

"What are you even doing here?!"

"I dropped something the last time I was here," Cross replied. "I needed to get it back."

"So…you're not here for him?" the black-haired twin asked slowly, pointing his gun at Allen.

Cross snorted again. "Of course not," he said.

"Then what the fuck are you doing here at a time like this?!"

"Odd coincidence."

Allen jolted as an explosion rocked the building. The rest of the guards looked up, breaking their formations as they wondered what was going on. The twins looked at each other briefly, and then the dark-haired one was barking out orders. "Well, go see what it is, you morons!" he yelled, waving towards the elevator. "We can take care of what's going on here!"

The guards started to leave then, through several sets of staircases that Allen hadn't known existed. That left him and Cross, Lenalee, Rhode and the twins still here. And Tyki, of course, but since he was dead, there wasn't really any point in including him. Rhode stood up abruptly, an impassive look on her face. Covered in blood, she looked like somewhat like a demon. Ignoring everyone else, she walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.

"Rhode!" the blonde twin yelled.

"What are you doing?!"

She turned to look back over her shoulder. "I'm going to hurt someone," she said quietly, tears still hanging in her eyes. Allen didn't know why, but for some reason, he found himself more frightened of her than he had been of Tyki and the twins combined. Perhaps it was the fact that she was just a child and still sounded so evil. Either way, he found himself feeling sorry for her.

"Turn around and stick your hands out as far as they'll go."

Allen looked up as Cross issued his command. Frowning, he did so, not quite understanding why he was doing what he was doing. The answer came when another shot came out of Cross's gun, this time right between his hands. He yelped at the heat and quickly moved his wrists to get the now severed rope off. When he finished, he brought his hands in front of him to inspect them; there were light burns around his gloves, and it was still warm, but other than that, there appeared to be no significant damage. Still…

He whirled around angrily. "Are you crazy?!" he demanded. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Would you rather still be tied up?" Cross asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Allen said sullenly. "But you didn't have to use your gun! What if you'd missed?!"

Cross shrugged. "I don't miss," he said.

Allen didn't even have something to say back to that, it was such a moronic statement. Instead, he ran over to Lenalee – whom the twins had neglected in their confusion – and began untying her wrists and ankles. When he removed her gag and blindfold, he saw the absolute terror in her eyes and felt quite guilty. "I'm sorry about this," he told her, smiling sadly, "it wasn't supposed to turn out this way." She grabbed onto one of his hands, clutching it tightly, as if it were her last lifeline.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Allen looked up to see the black-haired twin pointing a gun in his face. The blonde quickly followed suit.

"Leave the kids out of this," Cross said, stepping forward. "I'm the one you want."

The blonde giggled. "Oh, you're so nice!" he said sarcastically.

Cross snorted. "Hardly," he said. "It'd just be a pain in the ass to have to train a new assistant. Even if this one is a total deadbeat."

Allen scowled. "_I'm _a total deadbeat?" he demanded. "Look in the mirror, you moron!"

"Shut up," Cross snapped. "Just take the girl and get the hell out of here."

Allen paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. Despite the other's jabs at him and his intelligence, he didn't want to leave Cross here alone. It wasn't really that he thought the man couldn't take care of himself. Obviously he wasn't dead yet and he'd had quite a few near-death encounters over the years. It was just part of this line of work – you didn't leave your partner unless you were separated.

But after a moment's consideration, he nodded once and started off down the back hallway, taking Lenalee with him. He didn't look back as the hall twisted, putting Cross and the twins out of his field of vision. "Allen!" He heard Lenalee call out from behind him, but he didn't stop to answer. Just because the twins were occupied didn't mean that there weren't other commanders in this facility – and he still didn't have his gun. "Allen! What is going on?!"

Allen paused and then turned sideways, heading into an empty office room. He closed the door and flipped the lock before turning around to face Lenalee. He put his hands on her shoulders and smiled faintly at her. "It's kind of a long story, Lenalee," he said quickly, "and we don't have a lot of time. I'll tell you once we're out of here. But right now, just know this – the people here are evil, and we have to take them out before they can hurt more innocents."

"Okay," she said softly. "So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to get out of here," Allen said, moving over to the air vent at the side of the room.

She blinked. "Through the air vent? Are you sure that's safe?"

"Lenalee, do you trust me?"

"Of course," she replied slowly.

"Then you have to believe me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing," he said, bending down to start unfastening the screws keeping the vent's cover in place.

"Alright," she said, kneeling down on the floor. He looked over at her briefly. She smiled at him; despite the uncertainty and the fear on her face, the smile was true and brave. He smiled back. He knew then that they were going to be okay: they were going to get out of here. "I believe in you."

"Good. Now c'mon! Follow me!"

* * *

"Shit!" Lavi cursed, slamming a fist down on an empty part of the control panel. "Holy fucking shit on a stick! What the hell, Kanda?!" He rapidly started typing in commands on the nearest keyboard, trying to regain his visuals on the factory room. "A grenade?! In an abandoned fireworks plant?! Geez, I always knew you were batshit crazy, but you've gone super apeshit!" He didn't know if Kanda could hear him or not, but judging from the explosion, he was guessing the guy wasn't in the best of shapes – or moods.

"C'mon…" he muttered, exiting out of the malfunction messages that kept popping up on the screen. He was quickly running out of ideas on how to get things running again. He tried a few more times, and each time was met with failure. "Dammit!" he cried, banging down his other fist. It looked like the cameras had been destroyed in the explosion.

Sighing, he brought a hand up to his ear, pressing against his headset. "Yuu-chan! Can you hear me, you big idiot?! What's going on in there?!" The only response he got was a rather out-of-it moan. "Shit," he breathed. For Kanda to not be responding, that meant he was either completely and totally occupied or rather badly injured.

Making a decision, Lavi stood up then, grabbing the gun Allen had given him as he headed towards the door. He wasn't necessarily going to use it – as a psychology major, it was rather obvious that you didn't have to actually shoot someone to make them do what you wanted. As long as they _thought _you would shoot them, brandishing a gun had the same effect even if you really weren't going to do anything with it. He reached out for the door handle, preparing to yank it open – but someone on the other side got there before him.

He stepped back instantly, his heart skipping a beat as he unsteadily raised the gun up. To his surprise, however, there was not another man or woman standing there and holding a gun back at him. Instead, there was just a little girl standing there. She was smiling serenely, even though there was blood all over her white dress and tears falling freely down her face.

"Uh…hi," Lavi said nervously, lowering his gun a bit. After all, he couldn't shoot a kid! That was ridiculous!

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked. "Did you make that explosion?"

"No," Lavi said quickly, shaking his head.

"Oh…you must be Allen's friend!" she guessed.

"You know…Allen?" he asked slowly.

"Of course!" she said, beaming. "I love Allen! He's adorable!" Her smile faded a bit. "But because of him, Tyki is dead…" Well, that answered who had been shot. Lavi felt a bit relieved at knowing it wasn't Allen. "You know, you're helping Allen." Her strange golden eyes were accusatory. Lavi didn't know what to say, so he just smiled nervously instead. "And that's not very nice, you know, helping to kill my family."

"Hey, it's not like you're being that nice either!" Lavi said, starting to get a bit annoyed now. He'd forgotten that he was arguing with a child, whose logic was rather naïve at best. "You kidnapped my girlfriend and did God-knows-what to her!"

"We didn't do anything to her," she said, blinking. "She's perfectly intact."

"Don't talk about her like she's some toy!" he said angrily.

"Eh, there's no need to get so angry," she said deviously. "We can settle this between ourselves."

"I'm not fighting you," Lavi said, shaking his head. "You're just a kid."

She giggled then. "If you keep thinking like that, you're going to die," she informed him blithely, taking a small pointed knife out of her pocket. "Because I'm not going to hold back." She brought the knife up to her mouth and licked the blade; it cut her tongue slightly, red blood welling up over the blade.

Lavi frowned as the girl giggled again. Were all the people here absolute nutjobs? This kid was only twelve at most, and here she was brandishing a knife. He didn't have any more time to think however as she jumped forward, swinging the knife with deadly precision. "Shit!" he muttered, sidestepping out of the way and then rushing for the door. As he ran for the factory, her chortling laughter followed him.

"You can run, but you can't hide!"

He swallowed nervously, running across the catwalks. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the wreckage of the room. Hearing it had been one thing…now… A horrible thought striking him, he started scanning the room for Kanda. The opposite side of the large room was burning, and one tank had completely imploded, a black stain around it. The catwalks over there looked to have fallen apart. And there, on the ground below, sprawled out on his back and bloody, was Kanda.

"Shit…" he muttered hoarsely, gripping the nearby railing tightly. "Yuu!" There was no response. He blinked and looked over to the door when it banged open, revealing the little girl.

"Hehee!" she giggled. "Your friend looks to be in pretty bad shape! But at least he took out the guy he was fighting." Her eyes flicked to the form of a large man who'd been impaled on a pipe – probably knocked backwards from the force of the explosion. "Poor Skin…" Her eyes flicked back to Lavi. "You know, one person is enough, but two members of my family…? I really have to kill you now."

And then she was rushing towards him with almost inhuman speed, and it was all he could do to block her attack.

* * *

Allen crawled out of the air vent with a huff before reaching back to help Lenalee out. She took his hand easily and stood up. He nodded once before breaking out of the room they were in and veering left. They had roughly gone in a large square; he was hoping to reach the room where they'd left Cross and the twins and then use the stairs to get up to the next level. Luckily, they'd run into almost no people on their way here. It looked as if the main force had gone upstairs.

He paused when he found the room he was searching for. There was plenty of wreckage here, damage mainly caused by bullets. But Cross and the other two were nowhere to be found. So Allen started dashing up the staircase, Lenalee close behind him. He wasn't sure where exactly this staircase led to, but he still knew that it led up, and that was where he needed to be.

A punch that came out of nowhere caught him straight in the jaw. He grunted and fell back. "Allen!" Lenalee cried out. He blinked a few times before whirling around to see Lenalee trying to fight off one of the grunts who'd left earlier. She dodged another of his punches, and Allen took his chance, grabbing a knife and flipping it around so that the hilt was towards the man. As his arm recoiled from his punch, Allen slipped under his defenses and hit him on the temple, effectively rendering him unconscious.

He then turned to Lenalee, who had a rather shocked expression on her face. "Don't worry," he said. "We're going to have to fight off more of these people. Here," he said, handing her the knife, "use this." She nodded shakily, grasping the knife with both hands. "And don't hesitate. That's the worst mistake you can make." She nodded again.

He smiled at her, trying to be supportive, before turning to head back up the staircase. He paused briefly at the top before pushing the door. Just as he'd expected, the rest of the men seemed to have gathered in this room. Using the element of surprise, he quickly knocked out two more men with his knife. One man clipped him on the shoulder, knocking him into the wall. Gasping at the impact, he waited until the guy had rushed him before raising up a leg to kick him in the groin.

The man went down, grunting in pain, giving Allen a chance to knock him out. When two more men came towards him, he had no choice but to throw his first knife. It hit one of the men right in the chest, making him stagger sideways. The other kept coming. Allen quickly bent down and picked up the gun of one of the already unconscious men. He shot the man in both of the shoulders then, before glancing over to see how Lenalee was doing.

She was cornered by a particularly large man, and though she was visibly shaking, the look on her face was determined. She dodged a punch before kicking him soundly in the crotch. Allen winced as he fell to his knees, and watched as she then kicked the guys head into the wall. "Not bad," he muttered with a snort.

"Allen, look out!"

But of course, he hadn't been paying attention as he should've been. He didn't see it when the last man slammed into him, knocking him painfully to the ground and making the gun slip out of his grasp. He groaned as his vision went blurry for a second, just barely being able to move out of the way when the guy aimed a kick at his head. He wasn't so lucky when the guy's foot hit his stomach. He gasped at the pain, but kept rolling away.

Luckily, he ran into another dropped gun and swung it up, aiming for the man's head. His vision still swimming, however, it missed and hit the man's stomach. Still, he went down, clutching his body in pain. Lenalee was instantly at his side, trying to help him up. "Are you okay?" she asked frantically. He sat up with a groan. "Oh my God, you head is bleeding!"

"Well, that explains the dizziness," he murmured, putting a hand to his head and squeezing his eyes shut. He counted slowly to five and then opened his eyes again. The dizziness had faded, thankfully, so he took Lenalee's offered hand as she helped him up. He looked around – all of the men in the room were now either dead or unconscious. He breathed out in relief and then started to head for the other door to the room.

As soon as he opened it, he immediately knew where he was – the catwalks above the factory. And he instantly recognized that this was where the explosion had been. He was currently in the explosion's direct vicinity, flames everywhere and the air incredibly hot. If it wasn't for all the broken windows at the top of the room, the smoke would've been too cloying to see. He saw the same man he'd fought earlier – Skin Boric – impaled on a nearby pole, a twisted expression of pain on his face. A sinking feeling hit him then. If a NOAH commander hadn't detonated the blast, that meant that it had been either Lavi or…Kanda…

"Kanda!" he cried out, rushing forward across the catwalk. He cursed as it started to give way beneath him due to the proximity to the flames. He made it just in time to a safer patch of metal, but Lenalee wasn't so lucky. She was stuck on the other side, a panicked expression on her face. "Stay there!" he said quickly. "See if you can jam the door so no one can come out!"

She nodded hastily, looking around. Allen saw her grab a nearby pipe and shove it through the door handle before turning around for further instruction. "Just stay there!" he yelled from across the way. "I have to find Kanda!" She nodded in affirmation, and he turned around, instantly running in the direction Kanda would've most likely moved in – away from poor Skin Boric.

About fifty feet away, the catwalks started to warp and bend, going down to the ground. It appeared as if the explosion had knocked them down. He looked over the side to see if Kanda was nearby. His heart caught in his throat when he found the object of his search lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. "Kanda!" he cried out, quickly heading down the catwalk towards the floor.

He ran over to the man and fell to his knees, instantly grabbing the man's wrist to check for a pulse. It was there…faint, but still going strong. He quickly scanned over the other, looking for the source of the bleeding. The pale skin was already bruising, and parts of his clothes had been torn off by the blast. There was a long, shallow cut on his arm and lots of scratches. But the biggest, and most problematic, wound was where a jagged piece of metal had gone straight through his thigh – in one side and out the other. He had to suppress the urge to vomit at the gory sight.

He couldn't remove it then. It was too dangerous, and he wasn't skilled enough in medicine. So he went for the next best thing – waking Kanda up. He shook the man by the shoulders gently, lifting his torso up a bit so he was off the ground. "Kanda," he said firmly. "Kanda, can you hear me?" There was a rather muffled groan in response. "Kanda! I know it's painful, but you have to open your eyes! I know you can hear me!"

After a few more minutes of coaxing, Allen managed to get Kanda to come back to consciousness. "Mo…ya…shi?" he ground out, blinking. "What…what are you doing?"

Allen sighed in relief before frowning. "I should be the one asking you that," he said reproachfully. "Why the hell did you use a grenade in an old fireworks factory?! You idiot!"

"Che, don't lecture me," Kanda muttered. "And don't worry, the other guy's dead. I saw that much at least before I…passed out."

"I'm not worried about that, stupid!" Allen said angrily, clutching the front of his jacket. "I'm worried about you!"

Kanda blinked before snorting. "I'm not that fragile, brat."

"You've got a pipe going straight through your leg," Allen said, scowling at the man. "You should be worried about yourself!"

Kanda blinked and then looked down at his leg, as if he didn't know it had been there until Allen had mentioned it. He inspected it for a moment before returning his gaze to Allen. "It's just a flesh wound," he said flatly.

Allen had to suppress the urge to smack Kanda in the head then. But he figured that that wouldn't be wise, considering how the man was just barely conscious. "You're so stupid…" he muttered instead, letting his head hang low.

"Che, don't write me off just yet, Moyashi," Kanda said, sighing. "Besides, you've got more trouble at hand now. It seems like you're quite popular around here."

Allen quickly looked up, setting Kanda's torso down on the ground. He stood up, holding the gun at his side. A woman was standing perhaps twenty feet away, a darkly beautiful woman with a rather serene expression on her face. "Who're you?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"You know, you've already killed several members of our family," the woman said, taking a slow step forward. "The Earl is going to be most displeased when he hears of this fiasco."

"Who are you?" Allen repeated, more firmly this time.

"Lulubell," she said after a moment's consideration. "You can call me Lulubell."

"You're one of the commanders," Allen said.

"Naturally," she replied, her lips twisted up in the barest of smirks. "But I, unlike the rest of my family, am not a bumbling idiot. Unlike Skin, I have a brain, and unlike poor Tyki, I have luck." She took another step forward. "And unlike those rambunctious fools David and Jasdero, I am not easily outmaneuvered by mere children."

"Glad to hear it," Allen replied.

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're not frightened?"

"I'm not afraid to die," he replied quietly. "I've never been afraid to die."

She chuckled at that, as if he'd just said something rather humorous. "That's good to hear," she said, her gleaming golden eyes sparkling. "I'm not afraid of death either. That will be sure to make this interesting."

"I suppose," he allowed.

She reached into her pocket then and brought out what appeared to be a whip. Taking hold of its handle, she quickly snapped it out; it whipped through the air with a cracking noise. "Then what are we waiting for?" she asked, smirking. "Let's get this started."

* * *

Cross rolled his eyes at the outraged faces of the two twins. He'd locked them in a room, and they were now arguing with each other. He had no doubt that the black-haired one was blaming the blonde for getting them caught, and the blonde was obviously getting all defensive. Shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of the two, he set off down the hall, going to where he knew the main control room was. On his previous trip here, he had discovered that the control room on the first floor was just a decoy. You couldn't get any information out of the database there.

He stepped into the main control room then, smirking. There was no one in here, of course. Normally, you needed a code to get into the room; but he'd gotten that ages ago, so it didn't really matter. Moving over to the side of the room, he bent down and removed the small disk he'd placed in the computer. On the first trip, he'd put the disk in the computer and set about having the informational files copied over. But he'd made sure that the copying function was only set to run in the background, so that it wouldn't pop up on any screen. Now the processes were finished and he had all the evidence he needed to bring this entire group down.

Slipping the disk into his pocket, he then retrieved his cell phone, flipping it open and quickly dialing a number. "Hello?" the man on the other end of the phone asked warily. "Is that you, Marian?"

"Who else would it be?" he demanded, huffing. "Call 911 and get your ass over here."

"What?" Tiedoll asked, sounding worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Not yet," Cross replied. "But if you want any of these loons apprehended, you've got to call the cops now. Two are already dead."

"Then why do I have to come?"

"Your son's here."

"…my…my son?"

"Yeah, the queer with a stick up his ass," Cross replied, looking around absently at the computers and monitors.

"Yuu?!" Tiedoll cried. "What's Yuu doing there?!"

"Dunno," Cross said, completely uninterested. "Probably came here with my stupid apprentice. There's something going on there too, Tiedoll. I think they're gay for each other."

"Well, forget that, is he okay?!"

"Eh…not sure," Cross said, frowning. "There was an explosion earlier. Sounds like something your bitch would do."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" the older man demanded. "I'll be there as soon as possible!"

Cross took the phone away from his ear then, putting it in his pocket. As he left the room, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it before sticking it in his mouth. He snorted as he passed the room where the twins were.

Was it just him, or was everyone he met an idiot?

* * *

Howard Link grabbed the gun from his desk drawer, quickly strapping it to his belt as he barreled out the door. Officers were running left and right, heading out to the cars. An entire section of the force had been given the okay to go after this terrorist group on a call that had just come in from a former government operative. There was even a SWAT team on their way. He wasn't about to miss out on the action, especially when it concerned a certain white-haired young man he'd been researching.

As he was rushing out to the car he was taking, he absently ran into Krory, the janitor. The man flailed wildly as Link caught himself and just barely avoided crashing into the floor. "I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't see you there!" the man cried out, clutching his mop, with a terrified expression on his face.

"Don't worry about that now!" Link cried out in frustration. "Just come on, we have to go!" He absently grabbed the man's arm, forgetting in his haste that Krory wasn't a police officer, but a janitor. "This may be the biggest catch of the decade, and I'm not missing it for you!"

"But sir-!"

"Be quiet and come on, or you're fired!" Link continued on down the hallway, his hand still firmly wrapped around Krory's wrist. He just barely managed to make it to the police car, where he still had to sit in the back seat because there was no room in the front. As soon as the door was shut, he yelled at the driver to start moving.

It wasn't until they'd been driving for about ten minutes that he looked over and saw Krory sitting there, sheet white, clutching his mop to his chest for dear life. He frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "You're not an officer."

Krory turned to him, looking positively terrified. "Y-you told me t-to come w-with you!" he said faintly. "T-there wasn't any t-time!"

Link sighed, putting a hand to his temple. "And why did you bring your mop?" he asked quietly.

"There was no time!" the man repeated.

At that, Link just rolled his eyes and looked out the window. Sometimes, it was best to just let things go, he reasoned. And good God – this was one of those times.

* * *

Haha, you guys didn't really think I'd kill off Allen, now did you? I'm not that cruel.

As for any other questions and stuff, they will most likely be answered next chapter. But I can't reveal too much :P Also, this chapter is as of yet un-betaed. I'll repost it with the edits as soon as possible.

And, of course, don't forget to review :3


	22. Hot Riot

So...yeah.

This chapter was actually finished on Friday night, and I was gonna upload it Saturday morning. Only then Fanfiction decided to be a bitch and wouldn't even let me log in. So I checked back this morning, and while I could log in, it was only about an hour ago that I was able to upload anything. I was just a little bit peeved. Because you know, I like uploading chapters as soon as they're finished and edited. No need to keep people waiting D:

Anyways. Longest chapter yet!! Woo!! I'm planning on definitely one more chapter, perhaps two, and then a definite epilogue, which will take place one-two months after the last chapter. It's kind of sad, really, to see this story go. But at the same time, I'm all satisfied because, you know, I actually DID finish it. I will admit, I have a tendency to leave things hanging sometimes :3

Thanks again to my wonderful beta, **Dr. Composed**!! And thanks to everyone who's taken the time to read this story!! Or review. Or fave. Or even alert.

* * *

Lavi stared at the little girl in front of him, panting. He didn't know what it was, but there had to something in the shit kids ate these days! No normal human being moved as fast as this little girl was! But he didn't want to use his gun to shoot her. For one thing, he wasn't sure if he would hit her – she had wicked agility. And for another thing, it still felt wrong for him to kill a child, even if that child was currently attacking him.

"What's the matter?" the girl asked, giggling. She quickly thrust the knife towards him. He just barely managed to jump backwards in time. Still, the knife nicked the fabric of his pants. "You aren't fighting very hard!"

"You're just a kid!" Lavi protested, dodging another knife blow.

"Eh?" the girl asked, quirking an eyebrow. She pulled her knife back for a minute. "I told you, quit thinking like that. Or else this little kid is going to skewer you." She leaped forwards again, brandishing the knife with skill. Lavi ducked and quickly rammed her torso, forcing her back. To his surprise, she just laughed again before lithely hopping backwards. "That's more like it!"

"I don't need your encouragement," he muttered. And why was she laughing like that? He got the impression that her head wasn't screwed on very tight.

She didn't give him any time to think though, for the next moment, she had leaped forward again. His breath caught in surprise, and he just barely avoided getting skewered, as she'd put it. Still, her knife tore a long, stinging gash along his forearm. He winced at the sudden stinging pain and jumped back. He couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't keep dodging her attacks forever!

"Whatcha thinking?" she asked deviously, licking some of the blood off the knife.

"I'm thinking you have a serious chemical imbalance going on up there," Lavi said, tapping the side of his head.

She giggled, as if he'd made some hilarious joke. "Nope!" she said happily. She jumped up on one of the catwalk railings then, balancing perfectly on her slim feet. Lavi took a step back warily. He couldn't afford to make mistakes now that she was up higher than him. He'd seen Star Wars III – don't mess with the high ground. "I'm perfectly normal! It's freaks like you that need to go!"

"How am I a freak?" he asked, frowning.

She laughed at that. "You're so funny!" she said, holding a hand to her mouth.

He didn't get it. But he didn't have any more time to contemplate what she meant, because the next thing he knew, she was in the air above him and he was in serious shit. Backed into a corner, he couldn't really move anywhere. So he did the next best thing. He twisted his body around so that her knife wouldn't quite hit him. As soon as she was near him, he instantly swung out with an arm, knocking her back. She laid on the ground of the catwalk for a moment before picking herself up and staring at him. "I don't like you," she said quietly. "You're not making this game any fun."

"Since when are we playing a game?" he asked.

"Life is a game," she said deviously. "And we're all just players."

"That's not true," Lavi said, watching her as she rearranged her knife in her hand. "Life is whatever you want it to be. It's not a game, determined by rules and patterns. That's bullshit." He frowned as she loosened her grip on the knife and switched it over to her left hand. What was she…

His breath caught in his throat when he felt a sharp, piercing pain in his left arm. The little girl was just smiling at him, her empty right hand still up in the air. He blinked and then slowly looked down at his bicep. A smaller knife, the hilt painted pink and purple, was embedded in the flesh there. He felt his blood run cold. He hadn't even seen her throw it. Fuck, he hadn't even seen her _get_ it out! He looked back up at her, his expression rather stunned.

Before he could react, she ran over to him, easily tripping him and getting him onto his back, with the knife pressed against his throat. She sat down on his torso then, smirking at him. "I told you to take me seriously," she said easily. "But you never took me seriously, now did you?" She giggled. "And you still won't listen to anything I say. I guess I have to make you understand." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, the smile was off her face, replaced by a much more solemn expression. His breath hitched again when she pressed the knife at his throat a bit harder, slicing the top layer of skin.

"Game over."

* * *

Allen leaped out of the way as Lulubell's whip crashed into the ground where he'd been. As it hit, the concrete floor cracked. When she brought it back towards her, he noticed the pointed metal studs sticking out of the leather. That made it much more dangerous. He eyed her warily. She wasn't like any of the other people he'd fought here. True to her word, she didn't seem stupid or impulsive. She was much more calculated, and much more controlled.

He jumped out of the way as she flung the whip at him again. He could tell that that strike hadn't been strong enough to hurt him – she was testing him. He had to chuckle a bit at that: just as he was sitting back and cautiously studying her, she was studying him. "What's so funny?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing, really," he responded. He stepped to the right; so did she. He took a step back to the left, and she once again did the same. "It just seems as if we're both thinking the same thing."

"Well, great minds think alike, as they say," she replied in an amused sort of voice.

"Perhaps," he said, smiling slightly. "But enough of this. How about we start this for real?"

"Fine with me," she said easily. Faster than lightning, she brought her whip back and cracked it forward. Allen's eyes widened as he saw the weapon hurtling towards him, and just barely avoided getting lacerated this time. But no sooner had he ducked out of the way than she'd recoiled her whip and was lashing out again.

"Crap," he muttered, once again dodging. He hadn't expected her to be holding back this much. She really _had _been just testing the waters. And it didn't help that he was already getting tired, not to mention his previous injuries. His equilibrium didn't seem to be fully back yet either; every now and then, his vision would sway dangerously. But he wasn't about to give up just yet. Tightening his grip on his gun, he waited until she'd let loose another strike before using the opportunity to swing the gun up. But he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that she might have more than one weapon.

Another whip crackled through the air then, this one complete with metal spikes. He cursed as the whip knocked the gun out of his hands and sent it flying back towards where Kanda was lying on the ground. Great. Now he was out of long-range weapons. He couldn't attack her with a knife like this – she would obviously see the attack and either dodge or use her whips to knock it out of the air. So he needed a distraction. Finalizing what he wanted to do, he dodged another of her strikes.

"You're rather good at dodging," Lulubell commented just then, creating a lull in her attack. "But you can't dodge forever."

"Heh," he snorted in response. "I've spent years dodging debt collectors from my master. You'd be surprised!" Grabbing one of his knives from his belt, he quickly took aim and threw it at her. As suspected, she quickly knocked it out of the air with the whip in her right hand, leaving that side vulnerable. As soon as she'd moved, Allen leapt forward, bringing out another one of his knives and slashing out with it.

Unfortunately, she saw through his plan right as he leaped forward. He just managed to tear a long, shallow wound down her torso; it was a hit, but it was certainly nothing to celebrate over. He leapt back as she pulled her other whip forward to fend him off. "Not bad," she said, panting a bit. She stole a glance down at her torn shirt, and the bleeding wound beneath it. "But that was one of my favorite shirts, you know. Now I'll have to get it dry-cleaned."

"I don't think you'll need dry-cleaning for where you're going!" Allen retorted. He dodged another strike that she sent out, spinning around to get out of reach. But the spin wreaked havoc on his poor, still lightly bleeding head. He had to stop for a moment to regain his balance, and thus couldn't dodge the second strike she made at him. He gasped in pain as the whip – the one with the two-inch long spikes – caught his back, raking up the flesh until it finally came free at his shoulder. He instinctively held a hand up to the wound.

"That wasn't very nice," she admonished. "See what being rude gets you?"

Panting, Allen's mind was currently working on overdrive to figure out what to do. The situation wasn't good – he was tiring, losing quite a bit of blood and his balance was whacked. All he had left weapons-wise were grenades and knives. The first was a big fuck no, and the second option unhelpful unless he could get an opening. That left fighting hand-to-hand. He was confident enough in his abilities to that respect, but it was the same as with the knives – he needed the perfect opening, and right now, he didn't have it.

He dodged the next two strikes she sent his way with relative ease; she had to be going rather easy on him then. He didn't appreciate her pity. But at the same time, he knew it was better this way because he had a better chance of fending them off. "You're not looking so confident anymore," Lulubell noted, letting her whips fall to the ground momentarily. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Allen huffed.

She smiled deviously at him. "Oh, I see," she said. "You've run out of ideas. Either that, or you're at the end of your rope." She eyed his wounds. "You don't look so good, either. Want me to put you out of your misery?"

"You wish," he ground out.

She sighed. "This is why I don't like fighting children," she said disdainfully. "It's always so pathetic." Before Allen knew what was happening, she had leaped forward, lashing out with her foot. She kicked him sideways so hard that he landed on a nearby conveyor belt. He gasped as the breath was knocked out of him; staring up at him was a large, sharp sheet of metal that looked to have been used for cutting something at one point. It reminded him of a guillotine. He felt his blood go cold, then, but he was unable to move. His body wouldn't respond. It was all he could do to look at her.

She had walked over to a lever nearby the side of the conveyor belt. It was connected to the piece of metal directly over his torso. "I didn't want things to turn out this way," she informed him quietly. "You seem like a nice enough child to me." She snorted then. "But, after all, it was you who meddled in our affairs. You brought this upon yourself, you know." She eyed the lever then, as if contemplating whether or not to pull it. "Should I do it?" she murmured, more to herself than to Allen. "Should I pull the lever, or give you a chance to fight back?" Her sensuous lips curved into a smile as her eyes flicked back to Allen. "Sorry, Allen Walker. You're an unlucky child. I never had a choice in the first place."

She yanked the lever down hard.

* * *

Link stared atthe burning building, gun in hand. He never would've guessed that this old, dilapidated building would've been the hideout of the strongest terrorist organization in decades. But it was the perfect place, after all. Beside him, Krory was shaking like a leaf. The squad cars were all pulling up now, officers pouring out like ants from an anthill. The Chief of Police, a quite capable woman known as Cloud Nyne, was barking out orders like mad, her own gun held out in front of her as if she expected a direct attack. Nodding with purpose, he walked over to her.

"What's the situation here?" he asked.

She sighed. "Damn incompetent fools," she muttered. "I've spent years shaping this force up since Levellier got sacked, and they're still a bunch of idiots." She shook her head. "But that's enough of that. I'm sending one group around back and two more for each side. The rest of the force will remain here, ready to apprehend any criminals that try to escape. The SWAT team found a back entrance, and is currently inside the building. You want to go with them?"

"I suppose that's where the most help is needed," Link said, nodding.

The chief ran a hand through her blonde hair, sighing. "This is such a hassle," she said. "I refuse to let this end badly." She looked over at him sternly. "You mess this up, and I'm not covering for you."

"Of course," he said absently.

She paused for a moment. "Say, what's the fucking janitor doing here?" she asked.

Link blinked. "Ah, there was a …misunderstanding of sorts earlier and he ended up getting dragged along," he replied. "Don't mind him."

"No, no, give him a gun, take him with you," she said.

"…what?"

"Arystar Krory has wanted to be a police officer for years, but he always fails the test because of his nerves," she explained, smiling fondly. "Take him with you and see what he can do. If he survives, I might even give him a badge just to boost his ego a bit. Damn man's been a basket case ever since his wife died."

Link sighed. "If you think that's best," he said, though his tone suggested it wasn't.

"I do," she said firmly. "No more questions."

He nodded once in affirmation and then walked back over to where Krory was. The man gulped nervously as he approached, his eyes terrified. Link sighed and pulled a spare handgun out of his pocket. "Here," he said, handing it to Krory. "Take this and follow me." Krory took the gun with a shaking hand and nodded as Link set off towards the back. He quickly found the entrance that Cloud had been referring to, and slipped inside. He set off down the stairs and the subsequent hallway quietly, his eyes intent. It seemed as if this was the basement floor; the fire must've been on the first floor then – there was no smoke at all here.

As he came to an open door, he stopped and peered at the inside for a moment. It was suspiciously dark. Frowning, he stepped forward, reaching around the door frame for a light switch. But the lights did nothing to prove to him that the room was safe. Stepping warily into the room, he held his gun a little higher. He didn't know if Krory followed him into the room or not. His attention was drawn to the far side of the room, where a few empty bullet rounds were sitting on a table. He picked up one and held it in his fingers – it wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. That meant it had to have been removed from the gun before being shot.

He whirled around as a startled cry met his ears. To his surprise, a dark-skinned young man with spiky black hair was staring at him rather stupidly. Link instantly raised his gun in self-defense, but there was no need. The young man fell to the floor, unconscious. He stared at the man for a moment before looking back up to see Krory standing there rather sheepishly, holding onto his mop as if it were a polearm.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Krory said, his voice trembling. "But he was c-coming up behind you, and you d-didn't seem to notice him!"

Link sighed. "You don't have to apologize for saving me," he said flatly.

"I don't?"

Link just shot him a look that effectively silenced any more protests. "But why did you use your mop and not your gun?" he asked quietly. He was secretly glad that Krory had acted as he had – this way, the man could be brought in for a hearing and sent to jail instead of just getting off easily with death. But Krory didn't have to know that.

Krory blinked rather owlishly at him. "My…my gun?" he repeated. He looked down at his belt, where he had put the gun. Sure enough, it was still there. "Oh…w-well…I forgot that I had it…I suppose…" He laughed nervously, trailing off when he saw the clearly not amused look on Link's face.

Link sighed and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, he looked behind Krory to see another man – this time with bright blonde hair – creeping up behind Krory, a gun identical to the one the dark-haired man carried in his hands. "Watch out!" he cried out to the janitor, trying to maneuver out of the way so he could have a clear target.

Krory screamed and flung himself around, his mop swinging in a wide arc. He caught the man in the stomach, forcing him to the floor. Then – probably spurred by some self-survival instinct – the janitor continued to spin the mop around until he'd hit the blonde squarely in the temple, knocking him unconscious as well.

"Well," Link said, taking a step forward. Krory whirled around again, looking positively terrified. "I've never seen anyone knock out two criminals with a mop before."

"I'm sorry, sir!" Krory wailed. "It won't happen again!"

Link frowned. "I'm not scolding you," he told the other man. "I'm just saying."

"Please, don't fire me, sir!" Krory said, falling to his knees. "This is the only job I've been able to hold for more than ayear!"

"I'm not going to fire you," Link said, frowning.

"But-"

"No more buts!" Link finally snapped. He paused for a moment to regain his composure, and then opened the eyes he'd inadvertently closed. "I'm not mad at you, and you aren't going to lose your job. Stop apologizing." He took a deep breath. "Now, just help me turn these two men over onto their backs so we can handcuff them. And take away their weapons."

Krory nodded firmly and set to work, gingerly flipping over the blonde as if he were afraid to hurt the man – the man he'd just hit twice with a mop handle. Link shook his head as he watched the tall man work a pair of handcuffs on with trembling hands. Arystar Krory may have been quite smart, but good God, did he lack a load of common sense. Still… The man looked up at him with a timid smile, waiting for his next instructions. Still…he had heart, and that counted for a lot.

* * *

Kanda watched in horror as the huge piece of metal fell down onto Allen's torso with a metallic whoosh. Allen screamed bloody murder as the thing cut deep into his chest. His head went back in agony, his legs twitching rather uselessly. And all the while, Lulubell just stared down at him with a sinister smile on her face, as if she was enjoying watching him writhe in pain. It made Kanda's blood boil.

Reaching down beside him, he found the gun that had been knocked out of Allen's hand earlier. He pulled it in closer to his body and put his hand in position. She turned around then, wiping her hands as if they were dusty. "Well then," she said softly, "my job here is complete." She picked up her whips and began coiling them up, taking care to avoid the spikes and studs that had done such a good job of hurting Allen.

"Bitch," Kanda spat out angrily. She looked up at him, as if surprised that he could still talk.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I'm just doing what I have to do to protect this place."

"Go to hell," he muttered, scowling up at her.

"Oh, was he your friend?" she said, smiling sadly. "Sorry about that. You could save him, you know – he's still alive." She looked him over then. "But then again…you're not really in any position to do much of anything, now are you?"

"Fuck off," Kanda growled, swinging the gun up and letting loose several bullets. The woman screamed as one hit her shoulder and the other glanced off her side. Pulling himself up into a seated position, he aimed the gun again, and this time hit her square in the other shoulder, effectively canceling out any use of her arms. One more time in the leg for good measure. She fell to the floor with a groan, unable to do more than pull herself into a curled up position on the floor.

Putting the gun down, he looked over at Allen. "Moyashi!" he called out. There was no verbal response, but he could see a pair of fingers twitch at the sound of his voice. Steeling himself, he drew his good leg into his body and grabbed onto the nearby fallen catwalk. Gritting his teeth at the blinding pain that attacked him as his bad leg moved, he forced himself to stand. He took a few moments to regain his composure and then started limping across the room, each step jarring his leg and causing white-hot pain to blast his senses. But he had to get to Allen, had to see if he was dead or not, like the bitch had said.

"Moyashi," he hissed when he was finally close enough to Allen that he could sit down on the conveyor belt and give his poor leg a rest. The kid's eyes were closed tight, his breathing shallow and fast. Blood was spilling down his body everywhere. The metal had cut a huge gash from his right shoulder all the way down to the hip on the same side. Kanda would've removed the blade if he hadn't thought that that would just cause more blood to come gushing out. He grabbed Allen's wrist then, his own hand trembling with the effort of staying conscious, and felt for a pulse. It was…it was just barely there, flickering away.

Those silver eyes flickered open then, staring over at him; they were half-glazed from the pain. "Kan…da?" he breathed out, coughing at the blood in his throat. His teeth were stained red from the liquid.

"Don't talk," Kanda snapped. "Idiot. You'll just bleed to death faster that way."

Allen smiled up at him. "I'm…die any…ways."

Kanda scowled down at him then, pulling on the white hair fiercely. "You aren't going to die here, Moyashi," he said sternly. "You can't die here. I won't let you."

"Can't stop…death…Kanda."

"Watch me," Kanda growled fiercely. "You are going to come home with me and be your same annoying self as ever. You are going to do your jobs and get into school and then go out and get a job. And goddamit, you are going to teach me how to play the piano."

Allen didn't say anything else. He just smiled up at him, and continued smiling as his eyes slipped closed again.

* * *

Rhode's head jerked up as the door to the factory burst open and police spilled into the room, her body involuntarily following. Seizing his chance, Lavi brought a leg up and kicked her hard, forgetting the fact that she was just a kid in his fight for his life. The girl shrieked, and caught off balance, slipped down and skidded off the edge of the catwalk. Lavi scrambled to his feet as she fell, quickly coming over to the railing. She had fallen to the ground about twenty feet below, but it didn't look like she was dead. Unconscious, yes, but her legs seemed to have absorbed most of the impact, not her back or head.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, he turned around, yanking the small knife out of his arm as he did. He winced at the slight pain, but the blade wasn't long enough to have caused severe damage. Several police officers were headed his way. One of them carefully aimed a gun at his head before approaching him. The other waved at the man to stand down. "You're no NOAH," the woman said confidently.

"No, I came with Allen Walker," Lavi said cautiously. "These crazy people abducted my girlfriend!"

"Name?"

Lavi blinked. "Uh, Lavi," he replied, regaining his thoughts.

"_Full _name?"

"Lavi Bookman, Jr.," Lavi said, wincing internally. He hated using his full name. It was so…stodgy.

"Age?"

"Twenty-two."

"Occupation?"

"Uh, I'm a psychology major at the university."

The woman nodded. "I'm Emilia," she said. "We're here to take over things. Head on outside now, and go see the paramedics to see what needs to be done about you."

"Oh, I'm fine, really!" Lavi said. She stared pointedly at the gash on his arm, and he covered it with a nervous laugh. "It's just a scratch really."

"Regardless, go see the meds," Emilia said.

"Alright," Lavi agreed, finally sensing no way to get out of this one. "Oh, but there's a NOAH on the floor beneath here. I think she's still alive." The two officers looked at him sharply. "Well, she was trying to kill me, you see, but she got distracted when you guys burst in here, so I knocked her off balance and she fell off the catwalks. True story, promise!"

"We'll check it out," the man said. "Now go on and head outside."

Lavi nodded and made his way back into the main lobby and then heading outside the building. He was stunned to see all the activity going on outside. He'd never seen so many police officers in one spot! And he'd seen several drug busts go down, too. There were several ambulances on one side, the police cruisers on the other, and even one of those big vans they used to transport criminals.

"Lavi!"

Said red-head looked up when he heard his name called. Kanda's adoptive father was waving him over, a frantic look on his face. Daisya and Marie were with him, the latter looking worried but still stoic and the former looking excited. Lavi smiled at them and headed over, ignoring the pain in his arm for the moment. "Hey, Mr. T," he said, using his old nickname for the man. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Is Yuu alright?" Tiedoll asked anxiously. "Have you seen him?"

"Well…last I saw him…he was unconscious, but he…he didn't look so good," Lavi replied honestly. Tiedoll's face fell. "But I'm sure he'll be okay!" he added quickly. "I mean, come on, it's Yuu-chan we're talking about! The guy's invincible!"

"He likes to think of himself that way," Tiedoll agreed, smiling faintly. "He'll learn sooner or later."

"Why'd he come with you anyways?" Daisya asked. "I mean, I knew Allen was all super-spy guy and shit, and Cross is too. And they got your girl, right, man?" Lavi blinked. "Oh, heard about that from Cross before he got dragged over to talk with the Chief." He nodded his head at a man with blazing ruby locks and slick glasses talking to a woman who was obviously the police chief. "But why'd Kanda come?"

"I…well…" Lavi stuttered, unsure of what to say. Because of course, Kanda would kill him for telling the truth about him and Allen.

"For Allen, of course," Tiedoll said, smiling. "It seems my dear Yuu has finally found someone who'll put up with him."

Daisya took a minute or two to process all of this. "So…Kanda's a…a…fag?" he asked, frowning.

"Only for Allen," Lavi supplied happily, figuring he should set that record straight.

Daisya was silent for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "I knew it!" he crowed. "I knew there's no way Kanda could ever put up with a girl!" He stopped talking then, unable to because of his raucous laughter.

"Are you alright then, Lavi?" Marie asked.

Lavi looked over at Kanda's other brother. "Eh, I'll be fine, Marie, buddy," he said, smiling. "Got a little scratch and a few bruises, but other than that, I'll be A-OK."

"A scratch?" Tiedoll asked suddenly, turning to face him. "Let me see." Lavi held out his arm to show the man then. "Hmm. You're right; it doesn't look too serious, but just the same, I would go and see the paramedics."

Lavi sighed. "I guess so," he said, waving good-bye to the rest of them before trudging off to where the ambulances were. He hated ambulances like this. Because as soon as you got in, you wouldn't get out until you got to the hospital and were given a thumbs-up by a doctor. Even if you weren't seriously hurt. But still… he half-turned back to look at the burning building. "Yuu-chan…you better not die on me yet," he said faintly. "You too, Moyashi-chan. Don't die either. And you better have not let anything happen to Lenalee.

"Or else I'll kick your cutie-patooty butt all the way back to Britain."

* * *

Kanda glared at the paramedics as they carried him out of the old factory on a gurney. He wasn't a fucking invalid, for fuck's sake! He could walk, and talk, and he was still fully conscious! He'd told that to the stupid medics several times, but they didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, and had finally strapped him in to get him to stop hitting them. Or course they couldn't strap him all the way in because of his bad leg, but they'd done as much as they could.

They had found him and Allen several minutes after Lulubell had gone down. They'd taken her too, seeing as how she was still alive, and were treating her as well. Probably so she could make a full recovery only to get a life sentence. Sick bastards. They'd then pulled him away from Allen and started trying to restrain him as they pried the piece of metal off Allen. As soon as they'd moved it, blood had spurted everywhere. They'd already moved Allen out of the building, and were transporting him to the hospital as fast as possible. They'd denounced him as being in critical condition, something Kanda could've told them without even blinking.

He blinked at the scene before him. It was only early morning, and yet there were still at least a hundred people gathered outside. Police officers were everywhere, running to and fro. He saw Lenalee a ways off, being hugged by her brother as well as being used as a human handkerchief. She was talking over her shoulder to Lavi, who seemed to have gotten away with only bruises, though he did have a bandage wrapped around one of his forearms. And then…oh, God, no…

"Yuu!"

He groaned and leaned back down on the gurney, hoping the old man couldn't catch him. But he had no such luck. Tiedoll caught up with the stupid paramedics – who were moving slower than fucking Christmas – and started walking beside him. "Yuu, what happened to your leg?!" he gasped.

"What does it look like, you moron?" Kanda demanded.

"What did you do?"

"The catwalks collapsed underneath me in the explosion," Kanda grunted out, sparing the details to avoid a lesson from the stupid old geezer. If Tiedoll found out that he had been the one to cause the explosion…oh, there'd be no getting away with it.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but unless you're planning on coming with us to the hospital-"

"Of course I am!" Tiedoll said indignantly. "I'm his father!"

"Shut up," Kanda snapped. "You are not my father!"

"I'm your adoptive father, Yuu, that's what all the legal documents say!" Tiedoll reminded him. "Can I ride to the hospital then?"

One of the men nodded. "There's a seat inside you can sit on," he said. "We're not going to be able to do anything for him here. It's too dangerous. Once we get to the emergency room, you'll have to sit in the waiting room until he's out of surgery."

"Surgery?" Kanda repeated warily.

One of the other paramedics snorted. "Yes, surgery," she said, rolling her eyes. "Unless you want that pipe to stay stuck in your leg for the rest of your life. It's a miracle you managed to actually stand up on your own with it still there."

"Ah, love," Tiedoll sighed happily.

Kanda just rolled his eyes and chose that moment to promptly pass out again.

* * *

"You've done it again, Cross," Cloud said, shaking her head. "You know, you never cease to amaze me."

"I understand," Cross said, smirking. "I even amaze myself sometimes." He sat back in his chair, swilling his glass of wine.

She rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," she said reproachfully. "You spend two years practically in hiding, and then out of nowhere bring down the most dangerous terrorist group inside the perimeters of the United States. I used to wonder why they always kept your sorry ass around as an operative, but I suppose this is why."

"They sent you here too," he reminded her. "As nice as it is to see you in that lovely uniform you're wearing, we both know that you prefer covert operations to desk work. Not to mention they sent Tiedoll here ages ago as soon as they got suspicions of a forming group."

"Yeah, well," she said, shrugging. "I kind of like it here, actually. It's nice."

Cross snorted at that. "Yeah, right," he said. "I can't stand this place. The women here are too easy. They're so boring. I'm leaving as soon as possible."

"For where?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Europe," he replied succinctly. "The women there are coy, more willing to make you work for it."

She blinked. "If you say so," she replied.

"Well, that and the fact that the wine there is worlds away from what they have here," he informed her.

"It's the exact same wine," she said, frowning.

"Yes, but wine is all about the atmosphere," he said. "If you drink it in the wrong company, it still tastes cheap even if it was quite expensive."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "I didn't have you come in to play semantics for an hour. I've got the reports on all the NOAHs we managed to capture." She sat up straight in her chair then, taking several files out of the folder in front of her. "The twins, David and Jasdero, have made full recoveries, and are currently being contained in the high security vaults, under twenty-four-hour supervision. Rhode Kamelot has also recovered, and is also under our surveillance. Lulubell is still in the hospital recovering from three gunshot wounds, but is expected to make a full recovery, at which time she will be placed in a cell here. The trial for the three of them is set for next month."

"That far away?" he asked in surprise.

She sighed and looked up, an annoyed expression on her face. "You know the courts these days, Cross," she said tiredly. "I did as best as I could, bumping serial killers and rapists alike, but that's the best I could do."

He shrugged. "What about the others?" he asked.

"The bodies of Tyki Mikk and Skin Boric have been duly taken care of," she went on. "We searched the rest of the facility and have taken into custody the rest of the peons that seemed to be skulking about. The building itself is being condemned as we speak."

"And the Earl?"

"Whereabouts currently unknown," she replied with a sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was your next mission, to be honest."

"Doesn't surprise me. Anything else?"

"Ah, yes, there is, actually," Cloud said, pulling forward a new file. "We've actually managed to recover the money that was stolen from the McCallister Bank in December. It appears as if those two thieves were none other than our dear friends David and Jasdero. They aren't talking about who's behind the security system malfunction, but they seem to know. We'll get it out of them eventually."

"Those two are complete idiots," Cross snorted. "It's best to get them to fight with each other. They tend to reveal more that way than they will if you do the arguing yourself."

"Duly noted," she said. "We've also taken the data chip you gave us and made a copy of all its information. So you can have it back. I have no doubts that you'll need it for your next mission." She handed him a plastic bag containing the small memory chip. He easily took it and put it back in a pocket. "So…" she settled back down into her chair. "Europe then?"

"Europe," he said firmly. "Even if I am going after the Earl, I'm taking some time off."

"To rack up more debts?" she smirked.

"Well, I don't want to disappoint," he replied, smirking as well.

"And what about your apprentice?" she asked.

He paused for a moment then, taking a chance to sip at his wine. "Time off for me is time off for him as well," he said carefully. "Once I've gotten my new assignment, I'll fill him in on the details, tell him to get to work. After all the crap he's learned for this mission, he's already half-briefed for the next one, I'm sure."

"You shouldn't be so hard on him," she said reproachfully. "He seems much happier than he was the last time I saw him."

"I have to be hard on him," Cross replied in what was almost a sad tone of voice. Almost. "You saw what he was like when I first met him. If I wasn't hard on him, he would've turned into a total crybaby. I had to toughen him up a bit."

She snorted. "I'd hardly call what you do tough love," she said wryly.

"Call it whatever you want," he said. "Either way, I'm taking six months off. That's plenty of time for him to spend with his…his…"

"Boyfriend?" Cloud suggested, smiling broadly at how uncomfortable the man seemed with the word.

"Don't say that!" he snapped.

"Aw," she cooed, just barely able to conceal her laugh. "I'd have never thought you were so paternal!"

"Shut up," he said, glaring at her. "It's not my problem if he's gay. I don't care."

"That's not the issue," she teased. "You don't know if that guy's good enough for him."

"We are going to stop talking about this, now."

She snickered. "Of course, Captain Overprotective." He winced at the nickname, but didn't say anything. "You do know that I'm totally going to hold this over your head for the rest of your life, don't you?"

"And you know that I'm going to deny it when you say it."

"Of course."

* * *

Kanda grunted as his leg pulled rather obnoxiously. He'd been dismissed from the hospital yesterday, and yet he still found himself here. Of course, now he was here in Allen's room, waiting for the brat to wake up. He stared down at his bad leg. True to the paramedic's words, he'd gone straight to surgery, where they'd proceeded to cut the pipe out of his leg, sew up the torn muscles, give him several blood transfusions and multiple skin grafts. It was enough to make Tiedoll's insurance company hate his guts.

And yet Allen's situation was worse. The hit he'd suffered on the back of the head had turned out to actually be a mild concussion. The scrapes to his back were annoying, but had been easy enough to fix. It was the huge gash down his chest that had had doctor's worried. It had taken no less than six blood transfusions to keep him alive during the procedure to stitch the gaping wound closed, not to mention the cracked ribs, partially collapsed lung, bruised internal organs and internal bleeding. He'd been in the ICU for a week now, and had just now had his status changed from critical to severe but stable condition. It had pissed Kanda off to see Allen just lying there like that, pale as a ghost, tubes sticking out from ungodly places and a breathing mask over his face.

Lenalee and Lavi had been by. Lavi had apparently gotten out easy, his major injury being a long, shallow slash down his arm. Lenalee was unharmed. Allen had had other visitors too, of course – co-workers, bosses, Kanda's family. The story was that he'd been involved in a terrible accident involving rum, a city bus and a particularly nasty dumpster. No one knew the spy bit except for those on the inside. Even the news stations had covered for him.

Marie was currently watching his apartment for him, as well as filling in at the museum. Kanda was grateful for that, even if he never expressed it verbally. He wanted to be here when the kid woke up. He wanted to knock some sense into him for being so reckless and rash. He wanted to tell him how much he needed to just dump Cross and forget about the man. But most of all…he just wanted to see those silver eyes, and the smile that he knew would break out across that face. God, he was turning into a sap.

Tiedoll had explained some things to him while he had still been confined to his own hospital room. He'd said that he was happy for Kanda, and that he gave his blessing on his relationship with Allen. Whatever. Did the stupid old fart really think Kanda cared about whether or not they had his _blessing_? And then he'd explained the parts of the story that Allen hadn't told him, the background story behind the NOAH's formation, and what was going to happen now that their main headquarters had been destroyed. He knew Cross was taking some time off, six months to be exact. Allen, as his apprentice, would be expected to follow once that time period was up.

Kanda didn't want Allen to leave. He didn't want Allen to keep sticking his neck out there, almost getting killed for a stupid bastard like Cross who didn't give a rat's ass about him. He fully intended to tell the kid that he wasn't going anywhere, and that Cross could forget it. But he was sure Allen would just smile at him and tell him that he had to, that it was his duty, and that he couldn't let his master down. So he was working on better reasons to get Allen to stay. He hadn't come up with anything yet, but he still had time.

He looked up as a groan met his ears then. Allen had turned his head to the side, and his face was all scrunched**-**up in the way faces tend to scrunch right before their owners wake up. Slowly, those silver eyes opened. They stared straight ahead for a moment, as if adjusting to the new surroundings, and then finally landed on Kanda. And there they stayed for a minute or so, just looking. And of course, just as Kanda had predicted, a smile broke out on Allen's face then, a happy, radiant smile that only Allen could truly pull off.

"Kanda," he murmured, his voice hoarse from disuse. "Hi."

"Che, a fucking week spent asleep in bed and the best you can come up with is 'hi'?" Kanda snorted. He raised an eyebrow. "Stupid Moyashi."

Allen chuckled. "And what would you have said, Kanda?" He scowled then. "What do you want?" he asked in his best impression of what Kanda supposed was him. The features relaxed as Allen looked back at him.

"I don't sound like that," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You always sound different to yourself," Allen muttered, yawning. "Wait…did you say a week?"

"A week," Kanda confirmed. He stood up rather slowly then, coming over to sit down on the side of the bed. He grimaced as his bad leg yelled at him for moving, but still did his best to ignore the pain. "You let that bitch shove a piece of metal into your chest, remember?"

"Oh…right," Allen said, looking down briefly at the bandages wrapped around his chest. But his eyes quickly returned to Kanda. "And what about you? Are you alright?"

Kanda stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Stupid Moyashi," he muttered. It figured. Even though Allen had been the most severely injured out of the three of them, the stupid brat would still check to see if everyone else was okay before worrying about himself. He was going to kill himself that like one day. "I'm fine. I was released yesterday. You're the one who'll be here for a while." Seeing Allen about ready to open his mouth, he continued, "And Lavi's fine, too. Lenalee was unharmed."

Allen nodded, smiling softly. "That's good," he said. "So…what's my damage report?"

"Six cracked ribs, a partially collapsed lung, six blood transfusions, internal bleeding, torn muscles, bruises to your liver and intestines as well as a complete tear through the parietal peritoneum," Kanda listed out. Allen's eyes grew wider and wider at every word. "Oh, and a concussion."

"I…I guess I should be more careful next time," Allen said nervously.

"Next time?!" Kanda demanded, leaning forward. "What do you mean 'next time'?!"

Allen sighed. "Kanda, can we not talk about this now?" he asked, sounding quite tired. "I'm…I just woke up, and I really don't want to argue with you."

Kanda blinked, but sighed anyways, pulling away.

Allen frowned up at him. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Nowhere," Kanda replied. "I was just getting out of your face."

"What if I wanted you there?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow at the slight flush that had spread across Allen's cheeks, despite the determination in his eyes. "You want me there?" he repeated, smirking a bit. He leaned forward then so their faces were just barely apart. "And why would you want me here, Moyashi?"

Allen stared up at him for a moment, just looking at him. "I'm glad you're okay," he said quietly, lifting a hand to slowly touch the side of Kanda's face. Normally, it wasn't something Kanda would've allowed. But hearing Allen talk in such a pitiful, tired voice made him ignore it for now. "I was…hah, kind of nervous when I just saw you lying there…on the floor, bleeding. I thought you'd died."

"Che, do you think I felt peachy**-**keen when I saw you get nearly chopped in half?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no," Allen said, flushing a bit more. "But you at least knew that I-"

Kanda cut him off then, leaning down and pressing their lips together. Allen's hand remained on his face throughout the kiss; in fact, the other one came up to join it. Kanda's free hand somehow found its way into those silky white strands of hair, being careful to avoid the bandages for the concussion. They broke apart only because Kanda feared the heart monitor's ever-increasing rate might alert the nurses.

"Kanda-what…?"

"You talk too much, Moyashi," Kanda said, cracking a smirk. "Go back to sleep.

"I've slept for a week," Allen protested. "I don't want to go back to sleep." Even though his words were strong, his lowering eyelids betrayed him.

"Liar," Kanda said quietly.

"Stay here?" Allen whispered.

Kanda sighed and grabbed one of his hands. "Like I have anywhere else to go," he said. Allen smiled at him briefly then before slipping back to sleep. Kanda watched him for a moment before moving to brush the hair out of his eyes. He then got up and moved back to his chair, making sure that their hands still stayed connected as he pulled out the book he'd brought with him.

Because, you know, he really didn't have anywhere else to go.

* * *

So yes. Action resolved (for the most part), damage report calculated and all I have to do is put the bow on the package. But that happens next chapter :D

And OMG, we're almost to 800 reviews!! Do you guys have any idea how excited that makes me, lol? The coolest thing ever would be to get 1,000 reviews in total for this story. I don't know if that will happen, lol, but it would be the best back-to-school present ever. But still, you guys are the greatest :D


	23. The Invisible Wall

So here it is. The final chapter.

Of course, there will be an epilogue after this. But this sums up the main points of the story, save for a few details to be mentioned in the epilogue. And that brings up another point - the epilogue will force me to change the rating of this story up to M (and you know what that means :D :D). So if you're the type of person who doesn't like to read that kind of stuff, don't bother reading the last part. Anyways. That's almost done being written, so it'll probably be posted up in a few days.

As always, thank you guys so much for reading, alerting, faving and reviewing!! This story has gone so far beyond my expectations and I'm so glad so many people like it as much as I do. I feel so weird posting the final chapter of this. I mean...I spent eight months on this story, lol, and almost two hundred pages of 10-point font writing in Microsoft Word.

And a big thanks to my wonderful beta, **Dr. Composed**!!

* * *

Allen had come to the conclusion that he hated hospitals. The nurses and doctors were all very kind, but after a while, all the doting got to be a little smothering. He hated the food that they served – especially since the only edible portion was the jell-o. He hated the fact that he was practically confined to his room since he wasn't allowed to get up on his own yet. For goodness's sake, a nurse even had to help him go to the bathroom and shower. If that wasn't embarrassing, then nothing was. But most of all, he hated the fact that if someone came to visit you, you couldn't get away from them.

And that was why he found himself now facing Cross, who was quite blatantly ignoring the no smoking rule. The man had only gotten here a few minutes ago, and already Allen was contemplating possible ways to get the man thrown out. So far all he'd come up with was forcing his heart rate to go up dramatically so the nurses would come rushing in to the rescue. But that would mean he'd have to stop breathing or hyperventilate, or do something as equally unpleasant.

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked, his hands fisted in his blankets.

Cross snorted. "Am I not allowed to come and visit my ailing apprentice?" he asked.

"I'm hardly ailing," Allen said flatly. "And since when have you ever cared?"

"I care more than you might think," the other said.

"You just don't want to have to go to the trouble of finding another apprentice," Allen said, rolling his eyes as he remembered the words Cross had spoken back in the factory, almost two weeks ago now.

"Quit being difficult," Cross snapped then. "I came to talk to you, not listen to your shit." Allen scowled at the man, but did as he said just the same; the sooner Cross told his story, the sooner he would leave, after all. "Damn brat. Now, I talked to your doctors, and they're thinking of releasing you in about a week. You're still going to be confined to taking it easy for the next month or so until that gash in your chest heals up."

"What about running the restaurant?" Allen asked, frowning. He was pretty sure that the bosses of his other two jobs could manage without him. But the restaurant was something where _he _was the manager. And what happened if the manager got sick?

"I talked to your friend about that," Cross replied easily. "What was her name…Rinari?"

"Lenalee," Allen corrected automatically.

"Whatever. She's agreed to take over until you can come back to work. So she'll probably come by later to ask you some questions on management. She seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders, so I'm sure she'll be able to handle the business. But anyways, onto your boyfriend."

Allen flushed at hearing Cross call Kanda his boyfriend – even though technically, that was the correct term. "He's scheduled for a court appearance later today, but I suspect –"

"What?!" Allen yelped, leaning forward automatically and wincing when it pulled at the still healing skin. He fell back hastily, face grimacing at the pain.

"Dumbass, don't move like that," Cross admonished him. "You're not of any use if you keep opening that wound up." Allen rolled his eyes at that, but squished himself a bit farther back in the pillows just the same. "Now, before you interrupted me, I was saying that your boyfriend is heading off to court later today."

"Why?" Allen asked anxiously.

"He killed one of the NOAH commanders," Cross replied. "Even though he was doing a favor to society, he still committed a crime, and as such, has to stand trial for it. However, considering the circumstances, the most they'll do is probably give him some community service and a slap on the wrist." Allen nodded slowly; he _had _warned Kanda about the consequences of killing people without a license to do so, but apparently it hadn't quite reached the dark-haired man's cerebral cortex.

"And now onto you," Cross continued with a heavy sigh. "I managed to get you added onto my insurance so that the company paid for all your wounds. But don't ever let yourself get injured like this again, or I will personally make you pay for it by doing menial, working class jobs for the rest of your goddamn life." He huffed at that, as if quite vexed. "You have no idea how much this is already costing me."

"You work for the government," Allen said flatly. "Don't they take care of your insurance expenses?"

"…that's beside the point."

Allen rolled his eyes. A silence fell between them for a moment. He had several questions that he wanted to ask, that he needed answers to, but he wasn't quite sure of how to broach the subject. Cross was, after all, at best a satirical bastard who enjoyed tormenting people. He could make anyone feel embarrassed at the drop of a hat. But still…answers were needed. "Why did you come?" he asked quietly, not quite looking his master in the eyes.

Cross didn't reply for a moment. When he did, it wasn't what Allen expected. "I didn't lie to those goons, you know," he replied. "It truly was a coincidence." Allen looked up at him then, frowning in confusion. Cross sighed at the expression, and then launched into a more detailed story. "After we were separated, I left the building on my own and managed to get to Tiedoll's house. As a former operative, he took me in and let me hide out there for a while, lay low. When I had decided to go and retrieve the memory chip I'd previously placed in their headquarters' computer, I had no idea that your friend had been kidnapped, or that you were coming to get her."

"It really was all by chance?" Allen asked skeptically.

"Do you really think I'd come in like some retarded hero in a cape to save the day in a blaze of glory?" the man snorted. "I was already in the factory when I heard them assembling in the main lobby downstairs. So I hid and waited to see what was happening. And then, an opportunity presented itself, and I took it."

Allen shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't believe what Cross was saying – it was just that he was finally realizing exactly how lucky he had been. If Cross hadn't been there…they probably all would've died. He sighed. This was just another reason to add to his list of why he didn't want this job. He hated it. He was used to putting himself in dangerous situations, but this time, people he cared about had been hurt as well. Lenalee, Lavi…Kanda.

"I'm taking some time off."

Allen looked up then, surprised. "Time off?" he repeated.

"Yes, time spent not working," Cross replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm going off to Europe for six months. After that, I am expecting the government to give me a new mission regarding our dear friend the Millennium Earl."

"So…"

"Yes, that means you have six months off as well," Cross answered his unspoken question. "Of course, it'll take you a few months to heal up properly."

"So you'll contact me in six months about the next mission?" Allen asked, already knowing the answer and yet still wanting to make sure.

Cross hesitated, and Allen frowned. "It has been decided that it would perhaps be best if you took some time off from field work," the man grunted, looking away from Allen as he spoke. "Go to school, get your education, and then come back."

Allen blinked. "Am I not good enough?" he asked faintly. "Do they not want me anymore?"

"Dammit, are you that fucking dense?" Cross demanded. "It's not a question of being good enough. You know how the officers at Central are – they're saps, every one of them. After hearing of your 'bravery,' as they're calling it, they want to commend you. And even I went to college before I entered work there. Ah, those were the days…you know, the college women are excellent."

"I don't care about that," Allen muttered, flushing.

"Of course not, you seem to prefer cock," Cross sneered. Allen's flush deepened. "But after those four years are up…it's up to you to decide whether or not to continue being a spy."

Allen looked up then to see a surprisingly frank expression on the red-head's face. His master wasn't lying then – he was actually being sincere. It was quite a rarity. "I'll have to think about it," he said carefully. Then, thinking of something else, he added, "But how am I supposed to pay for college? I don't have enough money."

"Che," Cross snorted. "The government is going to pay for you."

Allen blinked. "So…I…I would be going to school for…free?" he asked incredulously. "No…no debts?"

"Debt-free," Cross said, nodding and blowing out a puff of smoke. "They offered to send you somewhere like Harvard or Yale, but I told them you'd rather stay here. Don't want to leave your friends and all that shit. Certainly didn't bother them; it's a hell of a lot cheaper."

"I can't believe it…" Allen muttered, staring down at his blankets in shock. He'd been working so hard to get into school for the past years of his life, even in high school. He'd been crushed when he'd just barely missed the cut-offs for the full scholarships. But he'd rebounded and worked hard to save up what little money he could. And then it had seemed as if he'd met setback after setback. And yet now…it seemed as if his luck had finally turned.

"Well, believe it, kid," Cross muttered, standing up then. He took the butt of his cigarette out then and extinguished it before chucking it in a trash bin. "I'm done here. In four years or so, contact the government. If you want to continue…they'll get in contact with me."

Allen smiled then. "Alright," he agreed. Cross nodded and moved to leave the room. But just as he got to the doorway, Allen called out, "Wait!" Cross stopped and turned over his shoulder to look at him. "You know, Master…you've been nothing but a major pain in my ass for almost ten years of my life now. I've suffered, done things no boy should ever have to do and been chased around the world by all kinds of horrible people." He paused for a moment. "Thank you. For everything."

"Che, don't go getting all sappy on me now, kid," Cross huffed, clearly embarrassed.

"I'm not getting sappy," Allen said, rolling his eyes. "But despite everything that I had to put up with, you still took me in. So thank you. Even if you don't deserve it."

Cross sighed and nodded at him in dismissal. But Allen could swear that out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a smirk on that mouth.

* * *

Kanda pushed the door in front of him so hard that it slammed against the opposite wall. The secretary in the front lobby jumped at the noise before scowling at him. His answering scowl was equally as dark, and she quickly went back to her work. Daisya and Marie were waiting outside in the lobby; both looked up as Kanda stood in the doorway, leaning on the cane the doctors were forcing him to use until his leg healed. Tiedoll, behind him, laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't look so glum, Yuu," the old man said consolingly. "It's not really that bad. You should be happy they're letting you off with just this."

"Che, whatever," Kanda growled, shrugging off the hand and walking over to the doors. Daisya and Marie eagerly stood up and came over to talk to Tiedoll, who had started to follow his adoptive son to the door.

"So what's the status?" Daisya asked in a whisper that was sadly failing to pass for more than a stage whisper.

Tiedoll sighed. "They've sentenced him to three hundred hours of community service," he said quietly. "This will go on his permanent record, but after he's finished all his hours, they're willing to look into having that expunged."

"So he's not gonna get locked up?" Daisya asked.

"Obviously not, you retard," Kanda snapped, stepping out the front door.

"Pity, that," Daisya said teasingly. "You'd look so good in an orange set of dubs."

Kanda glared at the other over his shoulder. "Shut up, or you'll get your wish," he said rather menacingly.

"Oh, don't be so sour, Kanda," Daisya said, rolling his eyes. "You've been so moody these past few weeks."

"You can't really blame him," Marie pointed out.

"Daisya, why don't you go and get the car?" Tiedoll suggested kindly, moving to sit down on a bench a few feet away. Kanda's leg advised him to do the same, but of course, he ignored it. He wasn't going to sit down by that senile person unless forced. Daisya sighed, but grabbed his keys and moved to do so anyways.

"So…" Tiedoll said, apparently trying to find a new subject, one that was far less touchy. "When are you going to pick up Allen, Marie?" Kanda, in his current condition, was unable to drive. So Marie was going to go pick him up and take him back to Kanda's apartment.

"The doctors said he'd be released about four," Marie replied quietly.

"Good, good," Tiedoll said, nodding a bit. "So we'll have time to drop Kanda off at his apartment and make sure everything is ready before going back home. Do you have anything in particular you want for dinner?"

"Wait," Kanda interjected, frowning down at the cement sidewalk. "You are _not _coming into my apartment."

"Of course we are, Yuu," Tiedoll said, chuckling a bit. "Don't be ridiculous. The doctors had some very specific instructions regarding Allen's state of health for the next few weeks. We have to make sure that they'll be met, and in your current condition –"

"Don't you dare fucking say it," Kanda muttered quickly.

"- we think it would be wise to let us help you," Tiedoll continued as if Kanda hadn't even spoken.

"No."

"Yuu-"

"Don't call me that," Kanda snapped mechanically. "And no. You are not coming inside the front door."

"But how-"

"I'm not a fucking invalid," Kanda said scathingly. "I'll make sure everything's just fine and dandy for when you show up to drop the brat off."

"You shouldn't call your boyfriend a brat, Yuu," Tiedoll said reproachfully, frowning a bit.

"Don't call him that," Kanda snapped.

"That is the technical term, Kanda," Marie added.

"Shut up," Kanda said. "All that you are going to do is drop me off at my apartment and then later on, bring the Moyashi there. That is fucking all." Luckily, the car pulled up just then, Daisya already having cranked the music up to some rap station. Kanda wasted no time in hobbling over to the front seat, which he dutifully claimed because of his injury – after all, it was doctor's orders.

As soon as he was seated, he took the opportunity to shut the radio off. Daisya, in mid-groove, blinked and then turned to glare at him as Tiedoll and Marie got into the backseat. "Kanda!" he snapped. "What the fuck was that for?! I love that song!"

"It's a piece of shit," Kanda remarked, looking forward. "And I'm not going to listen to it."

"Driver's choice," Daisya retorted, turning the radio back on.

Kanda glared at the other as Daisya drove out of the parking lot, almost taking out several bumpers in the process. And while the other was executing a turn, he turned the radio off again. "Don't fuck with the wounded," he said smugly.

* * *

Allen grimaced in discomfort as he was repositioned on the huge bed Kanda's family had just recently bought for him. Upon learning of the change in their relationship and Allen's injuries, apparently Kanda's adopted father had seen fit to take Allen under his wing, as if they he'd just gained a son-in-law. Personally, it embarrassed him a bit, but he didn't have it in him to say no. So the bed that had previously been lodged in Kanda's guest room was now probably being shipped off to a Goodwill near you. As it was, the new bed was twice as big as the old one and just barely fit inside the room.

"Are you alright, Allen?" Tiedoll asked anxiously, seeing the grimace on Allen's face.

"Oh, I'm fine," Allen said quickly. "It just hurts a bit to move."

"Sorry about that," the old man said, smiling sympathetically. "I've had similar wounds in my day." He reached down to pull the thick, red blankets up from around the foot of the bed and bring them up to Allen, who then repositioned them as he saw fit. Meanwhile, Kanda was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed and brows furrowed in a glare. He hadn't wanted anyone save Allen to come in the apartment, but when he'd been unable to lift Allen and still walk, Tiedoll had insisted.

"Are you finished yet?" he demanded.

"Calm down, Yuu," Tiedoll said, sighing. "Honestly, it if isn't one thing with you, it's another." He turned to Allen, smiling. "Now, there's a list of all your medications and upcoming doctor's appointments on the refrigerator. Kanda's going to be here for you, but he's not always the most reliable of sources, so I've put my phone number there as well."

"Great. Now get going."

Tiedoll sighed again and stood up straight, shooting a disapproving look at his "son". "My dear son," he said, shaking his head. "Will you never learn?" The only response that he got was a rather heated glare. Turning back to Allen, the man continued, "Anyways, I suppose I'd better get going. Just call if you need anything!"

"Of course," Allen said, smiling in return. "And thank you for all the help, Mr. Tiedoll."

"Oh, please, you don't have to call me Mister," Tiedoll said, chuckling. "Call me Froi."

Allen hesitated, unsure about calling Kanda's father by his first name. Luckily, Kanda picked it up from there. "Quit being an annoying, sentimental bastard and get the fuck out," he spat. "You've done what you came here to do. Stop lollygagging."

Tiedoll chuckled at that, but walked over to the doorway anyways. He stopped at Kanda's side, put a hand on his shoulder and then leaned over to whisper a few words in his ear. Kanda flushed – though whether in anger or embarrassment, Allen couldn't tell which. And then Tiedoll was going out through the door. Allen heard the front door to the apartment open and then close. Kanda stayed still for a moment, staring down at the ground. Allen wasn't sure of what to say, so he just leaned back farther into the pillows.

"Stupid old man," Kanda finally muttered. Allen looked up to see the other moving to sit down on the other side of the bed. "Always meddling in other peoples' business."

Allen smiled at that. "It was nice of him to do all this for me," he disagreed lightly.

"Che, and get you a fucking king-sized mattress?" Kanda retorted. "He just wants us to sleep together so he can try to get a picture of us together. Fucking retard."

"Well…you don't have to…sleep here," Allen replied quietly. "I mean…you do have your own room."

"Quit sounding so pathetic, Moyashi," Kanda snapped then. Allen looked up at him, surprised to see that his flush from earlier still hadn't quite faded. "I'll sleep in here. That way I don't have to come all the way down here when you starting bitching in the middle of the night for your Vicodin."

"I have never once bitched in the middle of the night and demanded painkillers," Allen said firmly.

Kanda gave him a look that suggested he didn't believe it, but Allen was firm behind his statement. The pain was uncomfortable, yes, but it wasn't unbearable. As long as he didn't move too much or laugh too hard, he was fine. What he hated the most about the medicine was not being able to do anything without feeling completely exhausted. He was always tired lately. He'd never slept so much in his entire life.

Changing the subject, he ventured out with a new question. "So what did Tiedoll say to you just then?"

Kanda's flush deepened, intriguing Allen all the more. "Nothing," he muttered.

Allen frowned at him. "That's not true."

"So?"

"So you're going to have to tell the truth because we both know that it was _something._ Otherwise, you wouldn't have blushed."

"I do not blush."

"Fine, then your internal body temperature suddenly shot up ten degrees," Allen said, rolling his eyes. "Whichever is the case, what he said had an effect on you. So…what'd he say?"

"He…he told me to take it easy on you," Kanda finally responded, looking down at the floor and refusing to meet Allen's gaze.

"…and that's embarrassing how?" Allen asked, completely missing what Kanda meant.

Kanda stared up at him incredulously and then scowled. "Are you that naïve?" he demanded.

"What?" Allen asked defensively.

"He didn't mean it that way!"

"Then…what did he mean?"

"He meant to keep it gentle when we have sex!"

Allen blinked. "Oh," he said in a very small voice. Finally catching on, he flushed. "Oh. Oh!" He laughed nervously then. "But…we've never had…sex before."

"I know that."

"And…we're both injured, so…"

"So what?"

"So…wouldn't we wait to do that…anyways?"

Kanda groaned then, putting a hand to his face, clearly embarrassed. "Moyashi," he said, shaking his head.

"What?" Allen asked. "Did…did I say something wrong?"

"God," Kanda snapped. "It's bad enough that people keep calling you my boyfriend. Now this?"

Allen didn't know what to say to that. He was puzzled – Kanda didn't like it when people called him his boyfriend. Did that mean…Kanda didn't want Allen that way? He just wanted someone to satisfy whatever urges he had? That was kind of self-serving, wasn't it? But then again, never once had Kanda flat-out said that he liked Allen, that he wanted to be with him. It was all quite ambiguous. Suddenly, he felt very tired once again.

"Moyashi?"

Allen looked up to find Kanda staring at him intently. "What?" he asked, not thinking.

Kanda frowned at him. "I just called you three times, and you didn't respond," he said slowly.

"Oh…sorry about that," Allen said. He pulled the covers up a bit higher on his body, shifting slightly on the mattress to get more comfortable. It pulled a bit at his wound, but he ignored the pain until it receded. "I'm just tired, so I was going to get some sleep." As if to prove his point, he shut his eyes and laid his head down on the pillow.

Kanda didn't do anything. Allen hadn't really expected him to move away instantly, but after ten minutes or so of nothing, the man still hadn't moved, and Allen was getting perplexed. Honestly, that was an open invitation to leave! How could the other not get the picture? But just as he was about to open his eyes and explain it to Kanda in dumbed-down terminology, the other spoke.

"I didn't mean anything by that," he said quietly.

Allen's eyes slowly flickered open, looking up at Kanda and inviting him to say more.

"I just hate the term boyfriend," Kanda continued. "It's so…girly. It doesn't seem real."

Allen's brow furrowed in confusion. "Then what did you mean by it?" he asked.

"It's embarrassing when people say that."

"…and what would you have them say, Kanda?"

"I don't know," Kanda muttered, flopping back on the mattress and surprising Allen. "Anything but _boyfriend._" He shuddered as the now-forbidden word passed his lips.

"Well…" Allen hesitated, not wanting to bring it up and have an argument start. But they had to get this out in the open. The last time they'd tried to do this, Lenalee had been kidnapped. They had been interrupted; but this time, there could be no more interruptions. Enough was enough; it was time for the Big Three to meet at Yalta. "…isn't that technically…the correct term?"

"I guess," Kanda said darkly. "But if you ever call me that in front of me, I will personally shove an apple down your throat."

"An…an apple?" Allen asked, frowning. "Why an apple?"

"It was just an example!" Kanda snapped. "Let it go!"

"Alright," Allen murmured, falling into silence again. He looked at Kanda to see the other staring up at the ceiling, a completely neutral expression on his face. He smiled; he had almost lost this. He had almost lost this, before it had even had a chance to begin. There were so many things they hadn't experienced, hadn't done. The thought made him embarrassed, nervous and excited all at the same time.

Kanda wasn't the best person in the world. He was hard to get along with, moody, temperamental and all kinds of sour, but at the same time, he was a good person. On the inside. Very. Very. Very deep down. But even if other people couldn't see that…Allen could.

At that point, Kanda turned to look at him, a questioning look on his face. "What are you staring at me for?" he demanded roughly.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful, Kanda?" Allen asked rather bluntly. He wasn't sure exactly why he was asking such a daring question. It had just popped out, and now he didn't feel like taking it back – must've been the drugs speaking.

"What?"

"Because you are, you know."

Kanda stared at him for a moment, his once-fading blush now returning full force. "Stupid Moyashi," he finally muttered. "Of course not. What a ridiculous thing to say."

Allen couldn't help but chuckle at that. Wincing slightly at the pain, he rolled over onto his back so that he too was staring at the ceiling. He would've liked to curl up into a ball on his side, but unfortunately that hurt too much to even attempt. "My master's going on vacation, you know," he said quietly.

"I'm perfectly aware of that," Kanda said. He sat up then, staring down at Allen as he spoke. Allen didn't look at him; he couldn't. He was unsure of how to bring up the next topic of conversation that he needed to get out into the open. It wasn't that it was hard to grasp. He just wasn't sure of what Kanda's reaction would be. Kanda sighed then and his eyes were forced over to the man. "And I know that you'll have to go back to him when he gets his next mission because of your stupid fucking duty," the man said darkly. "I don't want you to go, but you're too stubborn to listen to me."

"Kanda," Allen said quietly. Kanda looked up at him, his expression still rather vexed. "I don't have to go."

Those impossibly blue eyes blinked, and then his face turned down into a frown. "What?" he asked flatly.

Allen smiled rather timidly. "I don't have to go," he repeated, more firmly this time. "The…the government thinks it's time to give me a break."

"A break?" Kanda repeated slowly.

"They're going to let me go to college," Allen said happily.

"What?!" Kanda said sharply, leaning closer to Allen in his surprise. "But you can't afford that!"

Allen shook his head. "They're willing to pay for it too," he explained. "I don't have to go anywhere. Even after I finish college, if I don't want to go back to field work, I don't have to. I…I can stay."

Kanda stared at him for a moment longer, and then he was kissing Allen, fiercely, passionately. Allen couldn't help but groan the second their lips touched. Kanda had never really kissed him like this before. Their first kiss had been chaste, the second slower and languid. The third had been desperate. This time…this time it was passionate, loving, even though Allen was pretty sure it was much too soon in a relationship to be talking about love. But that didn't matter at the moment.

All that mattered was that Kanda was now lying beside him, arms around him and pressing butterfly kisses to his face and neck as he finally nodded off to sleep.

* * *

Haha, quite a bit shorter than the last chapter, wasn't it?

But like I said, the epilogue should be out shortly. And you guys gave me 60+ reviews for last chapter!! Thank you guys so much!! Next up is 900, woohoo!!

As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review :3


	24. Love Game

Oh my god, you guys, this is it!!

I feel so proud. I've finished my first multi-chapter DGM fic. But at the same time, I'm kind of sad. I mean, I spent eight months of my life on this that I will never get back. But...I think it was all definitely worth it, haha. I had so much fun writing this. And I think it's really helped improve my writing skills. But anyways. This is like the nail in the coffin of my summer vacation. Because I had my first day today (if for some reason you want to read the gory details, I ranted about it at my livejournal, lol) and now this is over...and things are actually gonna get serious with school and cross country now. So now that this is done, I can start working towards my other stories. And - I've already got a new idea for another story - Yullen of course. Maybe you can look into reading that when I post it, eh?

Once again, a huge thanks to my awesome beta, **Dr. Composed**!! She's seriously helped me out so much with editing this. Though I have to say, some of my typos were rather embarrassing, haha...

But** WARNING** - this chapter continues sexual content. If you aren't comfortable reading that, then I would advice you skip this chapter.

* * *

"If you think that's what's best, then go for it."

"I do," Allen said, smiling faintly. "I really do."

"…are you happy, Allen?"

"To be honest, Lenalee…I don't think I've ever been happier," Allen said honestly. He looked over at the various stacks of paperwork he was gradually working his way through. There were several different kinds of work there – things he had to fill out for college in the fall, things for the restaurant (as he was trying to manage as much as he could from home, taking some of the load off Lenalee), hospital insurance forms, and, of course, bills on top of bills. But he was serious. These past few weeks had been some of the happiest in his life.

"Well, as long as you're happy," she said, laughing a bit. "So when do you think you're going to be able to back to work?" She giggled. "You wouldn't believe how many men have asked me what happened to the cute little waitress with the silver hair."

Allen flushed in embarrassment. Oh, if only they knew. "I had a doctor's appointment this morning, actually," he informed her. "They've given me a clean bill of health. I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous for the next few weeks, but other than that, I'm as good as new."

"That's great!" she said happily. "So would you and Kanda want to come out with me and Lavi for dinner sometime this week?"

He snorted. "Well, I'll have to convince Kanda," he said slyly, "but I think I can manage."

"Don't do anything too dirty," she said with a snicker.

"Lenalee!" he said, pretending to sound scandalized. "I would never do anything like that!"

"Uh-huh," she said. "I believe you, Allen."

He chuckled then. "Well, it was good talking to you, Lenalee," he said. "I'll get this paperwork for the restaurant filed as soon as possible. I'd like to try and come back to work starting next week, but I'm not making any promises."

"Okay," she said. "See you later!"

"Bye," he said, taking the phone away from his ear and ending the call. With a light sigh, he put the phone on the bedside table. He looked up when he heard the clearing of a throat from across the room. Kanda was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a towel slung over his shoulder. "Hello," Allen said, smiling over at his lover.

"Did you tell her?"

"Yeah," Allen said, running a hand through his hair absently. "She took it pretty well, I think. She didn't seem surprised." In the weeks immediately following his release from the hospital, Allen had done some serious thinking. After all, when you were confined to bed or a sofa for most of the time, what else could you do? He'd come to some important decisions.

First of all, he had decided that he was going to major in musical education, specifically in piano and other classical instruments. He'd managed to get into contact with his old high school, and had gotten a copy of his transcript to send off to the local university. Currently, as it was the middle of February, he was working on getting scholarships and federal funding. Because even though the government was going to pay for his education, he still felt compelled to get as much of a tuition reduction as he possibly could.

Secondly, he'd decided to quit both his job at Starbuck's and the one he held at the grocery store. Now that he wasn't saving up to go to college or paying off his master's debts – something he was quite proud of, seeing as how he'd basically conned the government officials he'd talked to into paying for his guardian's "minor" expenses, as he'd put it – he didn't need to have more than one job. He was going to keep his position as manager of Cross's restaurant though, to earn money for other necessities. Of course, he still hadn't decided whether or not he was going to actually go back to field work; that was a thought for another day.

And thirdly, he had turned down Bak's proposal to have the lesions on his arm removed. The more he had thought about it, the less it had made sense. After all, in all likelihood, they would just grow back. To top that off, he'd just gotten out of constant hospital visits and doctor's appointments – he didn't really have any desire to go back. Besides, none of his friends seemed to mind it. Kanda in particular seemed totally nonplussed by it. Which brought him back to the man standing in the doorway.

"Are you ready then?" Kanda asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Allen flushed, but nodded. When he'd first been released from the hospital, he had been unable to bathe by himself. It put too much strain on the newly healed skin, and there was too much of a risk that it would tear. So Kanda had been stuck with the task of helping him. Of course, Allen really didn't think the other minded; in fact, he would even go as far as to say that the other enjoyed it. Because of course, they still had not had sex, and that was the only time that Kanda got to see him naked.

He stood up – gingerly, of course – and hobbled his way over to Kanda, who grabbed his arm as soon as he was within reach. Together, they made their way over to the only bathroom in the apartment. Kanda closed the door behind them and immediately set about getting the water ready. Because Allen's skin was so sensitive, they couldn't use hot water, but neither could they use cold water. So it had to be just right, that perfect blend of hot and cold water.

Kanda looked back at him over his shoulder. "Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?" he demanded. "Strip."

Allen flushed a bit at the blatant demand, but did so anyways. He carefully peeled off his t-shirt and set it down on the top of the sink. Next went his loose sweatpants, which remained on the floor. He still couldn't bend over all the way – he had to sink down on his legs and keep his torso straight if he wanted to reach the floor for any reason. He remained in his underwear until the last possible second – otherwise, it was just too strange.

Kanda turned off the water after judging that there was enough in the tub and moved the towel from his shoulder to the closed toilet seat lid. He then retrieved the shampoo and the soap and moved them close enough to him to be in easy reach. Then his gaze was back on Allen. He frowned upon seeing that the other was still not completely naked. "Have you never been to Vegas?" he demanded. "Stripping includes removing your underwear, idiot."

"It's just embarrassing," Allen said, flush deepening as he finally removed his boxers and let them fall by his pants. He could feel Kanda's eyes on him and tried to ignore them, but it was hard being naked in front of someone – even if that someone was your boyfriend. He got into the tub as quickly as possible, trying to minimize the other's ogling time.

"Che," Kanda snorted, picking up a nearby bucket and using it to dump a load of water all over Allen's head. Allen spluttered at the unexpected move before glaring at the other. His now wet skin started developing goosebumps in the chill air. He stuck a hand out, asking silently for the shampoo bottle. At the very least, he could wash his hair.

Kanda easily handed it to him. He opened it and poured a small amount of the liquid in his palm before handing his lover the bottle back. He then worked the sweet smelling liquid into a lather and began to work it into his hair. He had to bend his head over a bit because his arms still couldn't quite extend to their full length yet. When he was finished, he rinsed his hands off and then signaled for Kanda to douse him with water again. His lover easily did so, several times to make sure all the suds were gone.

When it came to the soap however, Kanda wasn't so lenient. Allen reached for the white bar, but his lover didn't give it to him. "Kanda, come on," he said, still holding his hand out. "I need to get clean!"

Kanda smirked and pushed his arm away before leaning his arms down into the water to get the bar of soap wet. Allen frowned as he continued getting the soap wet until it too had formed a nice lather on Kanda's hands. "How about I do the washing today, Moyashi?" Kanda said, smirking from beneath his bangs. Allen gulped nervously; the last time Kanda had "washed" him, he'd ended up with a little problem that Kanda had quite meanly refused to take care of. Even though he was sure that Kanda had had a similar problem of his own.

Allen started a bit as Kanda's soapy hands came up to his back and started moving the soap around in small circles. He closed his eyes and let his head hang as his cheeks flushed. Kanda's touch was quite obviously meant to be arousing, meant to be sensual. Why else would it take anyone ten whole seconds to move a hand from the nape of his neck to his lower back? And they were fleeting touches as well – they weren't hard, they weren't rough. They were so unlike Kanda's normal temperament that it left Allen shivering.

"Cold?" Kanda murmured.

"N-no," Allen managed to get out. His eyes opened as Kanda forced him to sit up and made him lean back against the dip in the tub. The other then proceeded to replenish the supply of suds on his hands before leaning in to take care of Allen's chest. He was very gentle around the new scar tissue, but elsewhere, applied more pressure. When he accidentally – or was it on purpose? – brushed a nipple, already sensitive from the cold, he let out an involuntary gasp.

"Sensitive much, Moyashi?" Kanda asked with a snort. "I barely even touched you." As if to prove his point, he ran his hand back over the nipple, applying more pressure this time.

Allen squeezed his eyes shut tight from the pleasure. "Kanda!" he breathed out, his voice shooting up embarrassingly in the last syllable.

"What?" the other asked innocently.

"Quit doing that!"

Kanda forced his face up then, and Allen opened his eyes in surprise. "I'm not doing anything," he said quietly, his face close enough that his warm breath hit Allen's features. "You're the one getting worked up over nothing."

"I'm not getting worked up," Allen protested. "You're being annoying!"

Kanda snorted and then looked down rather pointedly at Allen's lap. Allen flushed at the scrutiny, and at the knowledge that he was, well, turned on by this and unable to hide it. That was the worst part about being a guy – of course, he preferred being male to being female, but it would've been nice to not have to deal with unwanted _problems_. "Something else tells me otherwise," the dark-haired man smirked. He leaned in then and kissed Allen's cheek softly, not seeming to mind that it was damp.

"Kanda," Allen murmured, letting his lover do what he wanted for the moment. His breathing quickened as Kanda moved his lips from the sides of his face to his lips and then down his neck until he finally stopped at the juncture of neck and shoulder. Allen blinked when the movement stopped and half-turned to look, only to be met with nothing but a dark head of hair. "What's wrong?" he asked when the other had been still for almost a minute.

"Shut up."

Allen blinked again, and then frowned. "Excuse me?" he asked, somewhat offended.

"You aren't ready for what's next."

Allen suddenly found himself rather vexed. He sat up straight then, pushing his lover off him. Kanda looked over at him in surprise, one eyebrow cocked. "You have got to be kidding me," he said flatly, frowning at the other. "After all of the times when you've gotten me all…all…all worked up and then done nothing, you're accusing _me _of not being ready?!" Allen shook his head. "You're the one who's so afraid!"

"What?" Kanda asked dangerously, scowling at the other.

"Well, you won't take any sort of action!" Allen persisted. "What else am I supposed to think?"

Kanda was suddenly very close to him then, bracing himself on the edge of the tub, knuckles white. "Don't test me, Moyashi," he said warningly. "I'm not afraid of anything, especially not something as stupid as sex with you."

"Oh, really?" Allen retorted. "That's how it seems to me!"

Before Allen knew what was happening, Kanda was kissing him with a ferocity like never before. He was pushed up against the opposite wall of the tub, his legs being smashed at an uncomfortable angle. But he didn't think about that – hell, he couldn't think about that at the moment because of the tongue currently worming its way inside his mouth and making him feel very, very hot.

Kanda was leaning over the water now, barely avoiding falling in. One of his hands was holding the side of Allen's face, the other holding the faucet in an iron grip. Allen made a noise then that was halfway between a moan and a whimper, bringing his own wet hands up around Kanda's neck. As if on cue, Kanda used the hand on Allen's face to tilt the younger's head to the side a bit so he could have better access. Allen moaned outright at that, letting his own tongue slip up to gingerly join the other's.

To his surprise, Kanda instantly withdrew his tongue from Allen's mouth, instead pulling the other's tongue into his own. Allen blushed and instantly opened his eyes to find Kanda staring back at him determinedly. Normally, it was Kanda who always led these things. Allen wasn't sure of what to do; but in these situations, instinct could make up for experience. He tentatively let his tongue move around in the other's mouth as Kanda's had done to him. When Kanda's grip on his neck tightened, he knew he was doing something right.

Of course, it was at that moment that Kanda lost his precarious grip on the faucet and ended up flopping half into the tub. Instantly, they drew apart as Kanda resurfaced, looking as close to disorientation as Allen had ever seen him. His hair was wet now, as was the front of his shirt. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Allen had to laugh at the humor in the situation. Kanda glared at him dourly, but instead of saying something rude, he merely stood up and took the shirt off, throwing it the floor. Allen instantly stopped laughing.

He had seen Kanda without a shirt before. But that, of course, had been in the old yearbook, and was quite a few years out of date. Since then, Kanda had developed more muscle, but without becoming bulky as some people did. And now, there was a strange symbol tattooed on the other's chest.

Allen's ogling was interrupted when he was suddenly picked up out of the tub and thrown over Kanda's shoulder. He yelped at the unexpected move, but he soon found himself lying on his back on his bed, staring up as Kanda quickly crawled onto the bed to straddle him, resting easily on his thighs. Allen's attention was drawn back to the tattoo. "I didn't know you had a tattoo," he said. His fingers itched to touch it, to see whether or not the inked skin felt any different from normal skin, but he wasn't sure what Kanda would make of that.

As if sensing Allen's dilemma, Kanda leaned forward so that he was hovering over top of his younger lover. Allen looked up, silently asking permission, and Kanda gave it – not verbally, of course, but in that way that only Kanda could successfully achieve. With trembling fingers, Allen reached up, gently touching the skin there. It was surprisingly soft, and smooth. He traced the tattoo with his fingertips; to his surprise, it felt no different than the other skin. It was just another part of Kanda.

But then Kanda's mouth was back on his, moving slower this time, more languidly. Allen's hands continued their journey as they traced every part of Kanda's chest, from the pectoral muscles to the abdominals to the external obliques. And they went back up and did the whole thing over again. Kanda pulled away then, and Allen frowned; had he somehow done something wrong? But his fears were instantly quelled when Kanda leaned back down just moments later, only this time giving attention to his chest.

He couldn't help but whimper when Kanda licked over one of the nipples he'd grazed earlier. He flat-out moaned when Kanda took it in his mouth and started – oh, god – started sucking on it. His legs seemed to want to move of their own accord, but Kanda's weight prevented that from happening. As Kanda worked one side of his chest, he absently brought a hand up to help with the other.

The skin of his new scar was sensitive, intensely so. Kanda was just barely grazing the skin, and yet it felt as if he was leaving fire in his wake. Allen's head fell to the side with a ragged moan. Kanda's finger continued to follow the scar all the way down to where it ended at his hip bone. By now, Kanda had dragged his mouth away and was scooting backwards on Allen's legs. He licked absently at Allen's navel, and Allen gasped at the slick sensation. He'd never thought that a bellybutton could have a use before, but its value had suddenly shot up on his list.

"Kanda…" he breathed out, trying to think of a way to put his thoughts into words – his mouth didn't seem to be functioning properly.

He heard Kanda snort above him. "What did I tell you, Moyashi?" the other asked, sitting back on his haunches. Allen looked up at him questioningly. "I told you that you weren't ready for this."

Allen groaned in frustration. "Kanda," he said, close to exasperation, "if you quit now, I swear that I will be mad at you for the rest of your life. And believe me – I can keep a grudge pretty damn long." And he was being completely serious – he had never been this turned on in his life before. Of course, his sexual history wasn't exactly something with a lot of substance, but that was irrelevant. He looked down absently at Kanda's lap and saw that the other was at least just as aroused as he was. So why was he hesitating?

Kanda stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating what to do. "Remember that you asked for it," he said finally, as more of a warning than anything else. Allen nodded quickly. Kanda then stood up and proceeded to slip out of his belt, and then remove his dark jeans. Allen's heart sped up astronomically as he saw the articles fall from his lover's body. He'd never seen Kanda naked before – he could imagine things, but after all, reality was often so much better than the imagination. Especially an imagination with as little to go by as Allen's.

Kanda stared at him as he let his underwear fall off his hips then, as if gauging his reaction. Allen tried to look just as his face, but failed rather miserably. Because, of course, Kanda was practically a perfect specimen of the human male – physically, at least. He flushed as his gaze moved lower and lower, until it naturally rested upon _that _spot. And he felt himself get even harder, if that were possible at the moment. Kanda seemed to see this, and smirked before climbing back on top of him.

"What's the matter, Moyashi?" he asked when Allen moaned. He leaned down and nipped playfully at Allen's ear. "Do you like what you see?" Embarrassed, Allen could do nothing but nod. And then Kanda did something that had what little part of his back that could move arching up in pleasure – he pressed his hips down against Allen's with a sharp thrust. He gasped as he eyes squeezed shut. "There's no going back," Kanda told him warningly; Allen noted that his lover's breathing was just barely more contained than his own.

"No," Allen agreed, opening his eyes again. "Kanda…do that again."

To his surprise, Kanda sat up a bit before sliding his hands under Allen, lifting him up this time instead of pressing down. Allen moaned again, wrapping his arms around Kanda's back as the other leaned down to kiss him. This time, it wasn't a nice, neat kiss – it was hot and sloppy, growing more and more frantic as Kanda kept bringing their hips together. When Kanda finally released him, Allen fell back on the bed with a groan, breathing heavily.

He frowned in confusion when Kanda moved over to the bedside table then and grabbed a tube of ointment that Allen was supposed to use on his scar. "What's that for?" he asked, watching as Kanda opened the tube and smeared some of the slippery substance on his fingers. Kanda put the tube down when he was finished, moving over to Allen and spreading his legs apart with a thigh. Allen looked up at him nervously, but Kanda still offered no explanation.

He went rigid when he finally figured it out – which of course, was simultaneous with Kanda pushing one of his fingers up his ass. He grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling, but Kanda's confident look reassured him. At least, a little bit. The second finger was just as bad, if not worse; he drew his bottom lip into his mouth then, biting it to distract him. Kanda seemed to notice this and reached down with his free hand. Allen gasped as he felt Kanda grip his cock and slowly start to pump with the lightest of caresses.

As such, he barely even felt it when the third finger went in. He was far too distracted with Kanda's other hand at the moment. And then Kanda reached even deeper with those fingers, and his vision went black as he let out his loudest moan yet. "Oh my God…" he groaned out, his vision returning slowly. He sucked in deep lungfuls of oxygen, just barely remembering how to breathe. He frowned then as the fingers were withdrawn from his entrance, having finally gotten used to the feeling. But then something else was pushing inside of him – something bigger than the fingers.

His mouth opened wide at the uncomfortable, burning sensation, but for some reason, he couldn't seem to articulate anything. Kanda didn't stop until his cock was all the way inside and Allen was trembling from it all. Kanda was leaning over him now, staring down at him as he panted. Allen realized then that the only thing stopping his lover from moving was his own pain. "Does that…is it…good?" he asked breathlessly, willing his lower body to relax despite what his instincts were telling him.

"You…have no idea," Kanda said hoarsely, gripping the rumpled sheets fiercely in an effort to not move. "Are you…okay?"

"It…it hurts," Allen admit, wincing a little bit as Kanda jerked unexpectedly. The other muttered a barely perceptible apology before leaning down and kissing Allen again. Allen's eyes closed as they fell into something familiar to him. He jerked halfway through the kiss when he felt Kanda grip his erection again, moving his hand in a teasing motion. He moaned then, the pleasure helping to relax his muscles so that he soon lost track of the pain in his ass. When Kanda broke the kiss, he accompanied it by pulling out of Allen's body a bit, and then slamming back in.

Allen groaned at the feeling. It was strange, it was weird, and he loved it. The pain had dulled down to a completely bearable level, and he was starting to get the pleasure out of it. Kanda thrust in again and he responded by spreading his legs a bit wider and giving the other more room to work with. After a few more thrusts, Allen found himself enjoying it completely, even rocking back into Kanda. And then Kanda lifted his hips a bit and changed the angle.

Allen flat-out screamed as that same spot in him was hit for the second time. Having found what he was apparently looking for, Kanda continued to hit that spot again and again until Allen felt like he was about ready to burst. He had only screamed the one time, but he'd come close on every other one. "Kanda…" he whimpered. "Please…"

"I know," Kanda panted, his free hand once again rising to Allen's cock to start shafting it in time with his thrusts. After a few more times, he thrust in harder than ever before and Allen screamed again as he released against Kanda's hand, hard. Kanda groaned, and with the aid of one more thrust, came as well, collapsing on his elbows. "God, _Allen," _he moaned, his forehead involuntarily resting on Allen's shoulder.

They stayed like that for a few moments, just trying to regain their senses and let their breathing return to normal. Finally, Kanda pulled out of him, leaving Allen feeling strangely empty, and collapsed to the side. He turned his head then so that he could look at Allen. "Moyashi," he murmured, slipping an arm comfortably around the other's waist and pulling him closer.

"You said my name," Allen said quietly, a delighted grin spreading across his face. He looked up at Kanda from his new position, flush against the other's chest.

Kanda flushed and scowled at him. "That was an accident," he said flatly.

"Of course," Allen agreed. He raised his head then and pressed a soft kiss to his lover's lips. "That…that was nice."

"Che," Kanda snorted, smirking. "At least you're not a virgin anymore."

"What?" Allen asked, frowning. Fear hit him then – oh goodness…what if he wasn't good enough? What if he sucked (no pun intended) at sex? How did you get better?! Well, he supposed he knew the answer to that one. But how did you get better at something you sucked at if you had to do it to get better, therefore sucking while trying to improve? It made his head hurt.

"Moyashi?" Kanda questioned, seeing the trouble look on his face.

"I'm sorry!" Allen blurted out, looking down bashfully.

"Sorry?" Kanda repeated slowly. "For…for what?"

"I'm sorry that I'm no good at sex!"

Kanda didn't reply. Allen was afraid that he'd said something wrong, and was hesitant to see the other's response. But when the other said absolutely nothing, he looked up rather timidly. Kanda had a confused expression on his face. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Well…you said…that…about me not being…a virgin-"

He was cut off by a rather lengthy groan on Kanda's part. Allen frowned then; it was his turn to be confused. "Moy-Allen," Kanda said, correcting himself mid-word. "Everyone's first time is the worst. You…no one starts out being that good."

Allen smiled at the blush that crept across his lover's cheeks then. "I know that," he said. "I…I just don't want to disappoint you. I mean. Well, I want it to be good for you too."

Kanda snorted, drawing them even closer together. "Trust me, Moyashi," he said somewhat condescendingly. "It was good."

"Really?"

"Would I say it if I didn't fucking mean it?" Kanda demanded. "Besides…you'll get better."

"Alright."

"But you've still got a lot to learn."

Allen looked up at him questioningly. "Really?" he asked. "Like what?"

"YUU!"

Kanda jerked up as he heard his name, and then Allen felt him go rigid beside him. Confused, he half-turned to look over his shoulder at the doorway. A few moments later, a group of people came to the doorway, talking amiably. Allen paled – he was completely and totally naked. Flushing, he grasped at the sheets and pulled them up higher, covering himself quickly.

The group – which consisted of Kanda's family, Lavi and Lenalee – stopped at the doorway and stared at the sight before them. For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then… "What…the fuck…are you doing here?" Kanda asked dangerously, jaw clenched.

"Aw, Yuu-chan!" Lavi said, sighing. "You finally snapped and took away Moyashi-chan's innocence!"

"Shut up!" Kanda snarled.

"Did you really forget, Yuu?" Tiedoll asked.

"Forget what?" Kanda demanded.

"He honestly doesn't remember," Lenalee said, appearing completely nonplussed at the two practically naked men before her.

"Well, he never had that great of a memory," Marie pointed out.

"What the fuck are you all talking about?" Kanda asked loudly then, glaring daggers at the crowd.

"Allen's surprise party for getting a clean bill of health," the whole group said in unison. Or at least, they all said similar things. It wasn't as if they had rehearsed it or anything.

"A surprise party?" Allen asked quietly. "For me?"

Lenalee sighed. "We were going to take you out to dinner and then come back here and celebrate," she explained. "We told Kanda about it, but apparently he forgot." She gave him a rather disdainful look.

"Shit," Kanda muttered, so low that only Allen could hear him.

"But we can still go out, right?" Allen said quickly, trying to salvage the situation.

"I dunno," Daisya snickered. "You two look pretty busy to me."

"That's it," Kanda snarled, standing up then and getting ready to go slug his brother. But of course, Kanda was naked. So there was a varied response – winces, sighs and people like Lavi who just look on and grin like a Cheshire cat.

"Geez, Kanda, put that away," Daisya said, his nose scrunched up in disgust. "No one wants to see your junk."

Kanda flat-out growled in irritation and picked up a spare blanket, wrapping it around his hips like one would wear a towel. "Get out," he said.

Tiedoll chuckled, as if highly amused by his son's antics. "We'll be waiting in the living room, you two," he said, smiling happily. "Take your time." And with that, he ushered the rest of the group out of the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Kanda then turned around to face Allen, wiping off his stomach. "Idiots," he muttered.

Allen smiled. "They may be idiots, but they're our idiots," he said, removing the sheet from his body. Kanda handed him the now soiled blanket, and he used it to wipe off his own stomach before standing up. Or at least, he attempted to. He yelped at the unexpected lance of pain that shot up his spine. "What's that?" he asked, bewildered.

Kanda just shook his head.

"Kanda, you made my ass hurt," Allen said accusatorily, reaching over to his drawers to get out a pair of fresh clothes.

"Well, get used to it," the other smirked, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"I suppose I'll have to," Allen said, smiling. "Now, help me get these pants on."

For the rest of the night, Allen could honestly say that he was having the best time of his life. They went out to a small Italian restaurant, and then to an ice cream parlor a few minutes away before all heading out to see a movie. He got a chance to catch up with Lavi and Lenalee, and even had fun with Daisya and Marie. Tiedoll, all the while, sat more in the back, supervising more than anything. He seemed as if he was happy just being around his children and their friends.

By the time the evening was over, Allen was quite tired. He didn't even change into a pair of pajamas when he got home; he just shucked off his pants and crawled into the covers, quite exhausted. A few moments later, Kanda joined him, pulling him close. Allen leaned his head against the other's chest, letting the rhythmic breathing lull him closer to sleep.

Looking back over the past few months, he could honestly say that it had been one hell of a rollercoaster ride, complete with ups and downs, hills and loops. He'd experienced some of his lowest lows, and some of his highest highs. But as fun and exciting as it had been, he was happy that he'd finally gotten off the ride and was now back on solid ground. He smiled as Kanda's hand unconsciously tightened at his waist. He was ready to begin this new stage in his life. Because as fun as the rollercoaster is, you don't want to be on it forever.

"Mmm, Moyashi…?" Kanda murmured sleepily in his ear. "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah," Allen replied quietly.

"Why?"

"I was just thinking."

"Don't think. Just do."

Yes, that was Kanda's motto, wasn't it? He smiled and pressed a kiss to his lover's chest then before closing his eyes. But despite what worked for Kanda, that motto wasn't always true. You had to think, you had to be aware of what you were doing. That may have just been the spy in him talking, but he wasn't sure. However… as he listened to deep breathing of Kanda – once again sleeping – he thought that at times, Kanda's advice was sound. Tonight was one of those times.

"Kanda…I love you," he said softly, speaking the words he'd known in his heart for a while now but not said. He didn't want to frighten Kanda away or anything; it was, after all, still relatively early in their relationship and he didn't want to screw anything this good up.

To his surprise, Kanda shifted their positions to that it was Kanda whose head was now on Allen's shoulder, buried in the crook of his neck. "I know," he said quietly, letting his nose drift along Allen's collarbone. Without saying the words then, Allen knew that Kanda did too - loved him, he meant. Perhaps it wasn't full-fledged yet, and perhaps it was too soon.

But when you know something – like Kanda did – you just knew.

And so he let it go, and slipped off to sleep.

* * *

Et c'est fini. Ah, je suis desolee!! Mais pas vrai, lol.

Thanks again to everyone who's taken the read this =) And thanks again for all the reviews. You guys are too good, I swear. I love you all to death in a non-creepy way.

See yas later!!


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